


How To Love

by eat_sleep_netflix_repeat



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Slow Burn, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-03-09 11:10:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13480257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eat_sleep_netflix_repeat/pseuds/eat_sleep_netflix_repeat
Summary: Everyone in the world is born with a unique mark on their wrists. The mark contains the first words one will hear his or her soulmate say. From the minute children could understand what their marks said, they were excited to meet their soulmate. That is, everyone except Felicity Smoak.Because as soon as she was born, her wrist had been branded with the ominous words “Let her go, or I will put an arrow in you!” written across her right wrist.*AKA Olicity Soulmate AU*More tags to be added eventuallyRating may change





	1. The start of it all...

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there, person who stumbled onto this fanwork! I hope you enjoy my first attempt at fanfiction. I really enjoy reading fanfiction, but writing it is a whole other story! All mistakes are my own as I do not have anyone edit my work. I do not own Arrow; I just own my work and my thoughts. I hope you enjoy!

Everyone in the world is born with a unique mark on their wrists. The mark contains the first words one will hear his or her soulmate say.

There are some that are marked with everyday phrases such as “Hello”, “Thanks”, or “Can I sit here?”; they have to hold their breath every time they hear their words with the anticipation that they are seconds away from facing their soulmate. Some are marked with bad jokes or pick up lines; they have to deal with the constant snickering by strangers and teasing by their friends and family about their future soulmate. Few people are blessed to know who their soulmates are from the second they are born; their soulmates’ names are written across their wrists in an introduction, and they never have to worry about searching for their perfect match.

From the minute children could understand what their marks said, they were excited to meet their soulmate. That is, everyone except Felicity Smoak.

Instead of dreaming of fairytale kisses with an imaginary version of her soulmate like every other girl her age, Felicity had been scared of her soulmate for as long as she could remember.

Everyone at school flaunted their marks by wearing short-sleeved shirts and tried to find their perfect match among the other kids on the playground. Felicity hid her mark as best as she could so as to avoid the inevitable pitying looks from the teachers and awkward six-year-olds staring at her mark for too long.  

Because as soon as she was born, her wrist had been branded with the ominous words “Let her go, or I will put an arrow in you!” written across her right wrist.

* * *

When her beautiful blonde-haired and blue-eyed daughter was nestled in her arms for the first time, Donna Smoak could not believe her luck. Despite not being born with a mark, she had found love in a man named Noah Kuttler. Even if he had bailed on her as soon as he found out that she was pregnant, she would do it all over again if it meant she got to hold her little girl in her arms.

While she was holding her baby for the first time, she did what all new mothers did; she checked Felicity’s tiny wrist for the words that would be stamped there for the rest of her life, only to be greeted with a threat.

An apparently psychotic archer was the last person she would want her precious girl to end up with, but the fates had spoken, and she was just going to hope they knew what they were doing. Her life had worked out fine, and they hadn’t even decided to pair her up with her perfect match.

But Felicity had a man waiting for her somewhere who was going to fall in love with Felicity in the same short amount of time that she had. She wanted her daughter to be happy, and if it took a bow-wielding maniac to do so, then she would accept him with open arms. But would Felicity?

* * *

As soon as Felicity understood what her mark meant, she went straight to the only person she could always count on: her mother.

“Mommy, why does my wrist have mean words on them?” said a three-year-old Felicity as she came bouncing down the stairs. Donna Smoak looked down towards her daughter in shock. She had done everything she could in order to protect her daughter from finding out herself and from the inevitable scrutiny by everyone in society if Felicity ever revealed her mark.

“Honey, how do you know that?” said a worried Donna, who hoped to keep her daughter blissfully unaware for at least until she was old enough to see how valuable her soulmate mark could be. All Felicity saw were words that had no connection to her future; they were just always on her.

Felicity looked up with her large blue eyes at her mother and replied, “I know how to read, Mommy. Why are they mean words?”

Donna sighed. She could not believe that she had to explain to her three-year-old about the uniqueness of her mark in comparison to other little girls.

“Well,” she explained as she kneeled down next to her daughter, “those are the first words that your soulmate is going to say to you.”

“What’s a soulmate? And why is he so mean to me?” Donna’s heart broke at the question. She had hoped that she would be able to explain what a soulmate was and the connection to Felicity’s mark before her daughter understood what the words said. She had done all she could to spare her baby from despising her soulmate before she met him, but in the end, it was useless.

Her daughter’s brain developed too fast for Donna to have the six or so years of peace she wished she had. She explained everything to Felicity, from the meaning of a mark to her lack of one.

“So my soulmate is a bad person,” Felicity whimpered as she wiped tears from her eyes.

Donna’s heart broke for a second time that day as she explained, “No, honey. He is just not going to be the nicest person when you finally meet him. But you just have to meet him, sweetie, and you’ll see that the fates don’t make mista-”

Her consoling was cut off when Felicity ran up the stairs to her room and slammed the door. Donna Smoak had never had a worse day in her life than the one when her daughter became scared of her soulmate, and there was nothing she could do about it.

* * *

Felicity Smoak had hated her soulmate for as long as she could remember, even before she met him. She did not want to have any sort of connection with a man who had caused her nothing but fear, anger, and trepidation ever since she learned of him.

At first, she had been scared of her inevitable soulmate, but this horror eventually morphed into rage: rage at the fates for forever tying her to an apparent murderer, rage at her mother for condoning her soulmate’s behavior if only for the sole fact that they are meant to be together, and rage at her soulmate, whoever he is, for making her afraid of him before they’d even met. She wanted nothing to do with him, and she made every effort she could think of to avoid archery at all cost.

She spent most of her teenage years dressed in long-sleeved black tops and cargo pants to cover up her mark. She wore heavy makeup, complete with plum lipstick and became the queen of darkness throughout her high school and college years to avoid everyone who wanted to talk with her about soulmarks. She became obsessed with computers because they were the only thing that she could interact with without getting asked questions about her soulmate, and she  became obsessed with hacking because it was the only thing that she had full control of in her life.

When she was fourteen, her mother tried to set up sessions with a soulmate councilor in order to make her more open to the idea of being paired with someone for the rest of her life, but Felicity just avoided going as best as she could. She wanted to get away from the idea of soulmates, so she decided to become the best student her high school had ever seen, if only so she could get the frack out of dodge.

Her efforts paid off because she was accepted into MIT when she was sixteen and she became one of the youngest pupils that they had ever accepted. She moved across the country from Las Vegas to Boston and threw herself into her studies, as well as joining a hacktivist group. She tried to spend as much time as she could actually being busy, so she would have an excuse when her mother called her weekly and asked if anything changed about her wanting to find out about her soulmate.

This got Felicity thinking; she wanted to know exactly who and what her soulmate was. She didn’t want to meet him, but the best chance she could to stay away was to know exactly where he was and leave a wide berth. She had to figure out who the fates had paired her with forever.

Felicity decided to use the information she had gathered from her mark to do as much research on archery and bow-wielding maniacs as she could between her classes at MIT. But, she didn’t want to alert her mom of her change in attitude because once Donna Smoak knew that her daughter finally acknowledged her soulmate, there was no going back.

* * *

After extensive research brought on by her constant curiosity, she came to the conclusion that archery was utterly ridiculous if only for the fact that it was not medieval times and bows and arrows are entirely impractical.

As for her research on archers, the only results that came up were professionals who had never  gotten in trouble with the law; even anything as bad as a parking ticket was absent from their criminal records, information which she could be sure of as she hacked into every known alphabet database in the United States hoping for a clue as to who her soulmate was.

But, even with the illegal access and substantial research, she could not find anyone who even came close to matching the personality she sensed in her soulmate.

So, as much as she didn’t want to, she forgot about her soulmate and focused her time on the more important things in her life, mainly her life after graduating MIT. Most major companies like Wayne Enterprises, Kord Industries, and Queen Consolidated wanted her because she had managed to graduate at nineteen with a Master’s in Cyber Security and Computer Sciences: a feat no one had accomplished before her.

But, with her unconventional look, she figured she would be under harsh scrutiny from everyone else at the company besides the CEOs who recruited her themselves.

So, she decided to change her attitude and look to one not so easily distracted by pesky things like soulmates; her ebony hair was dyed a honey blonde, her cargo pants and graphic tees were exchanged for long-sleeved dresses and blouses with skirts, her makeup became lighter, her lipstick substantially pinker, and she tried to make herself professional to please every company that wanted her. She even stopped hacking altogether, only using her computer for IT work.

In the end, she chose Queen Consolidated because it was the furthest away from her old Vegas life which she tried to ignore as best she could despite the constant phone calls from her mother, who still lived and worked in the same places and who still called her weekly to talk about her soulmate.

* * *

Her first three years in Starling City were spent mainly in her small cubicle in the IT department, or watching _Doctor Who_ in her townhouse, interacting more with the pizza delivery guy than anyone else. She had no time or need to worry about who her perfect match was; she was perfectly content in her self-deemed “nerd bubble”. It wasn’t until the Hood came on Starling City’s radar that she even remembered that she had an assumed bow-wielding murderer as a soulmate.

When she had first heard the news of a vigilante in her city who acted as a Robin Hood, bow and all, preying on one-percenters who exploited the rich, she had nearly dropped her favorite Tardis coffee mug in the rush to turn up the volume of the television.

“Once again, the vigilante dubbed ‘The Hood’ has murdered one of Starling City’s richest businessmen; this time, Andrew Garcia is the unfortunate victim. Garcia was found in an alley at the intersection of Fletching and 3rd Street with an arrow in his heart at about 3 o’clock this morning. Police are continuing their investigation into the identity of this hooded murderer,” the newscaster reported.

Felicity stood frozen, her mouth open in a perfect “O” shape. Her soulmate was the fracking vigilante! She was sure of it! How many other maniacs wielded a bow and arrow in the city she called home? She needed answers, so she called in “sick” to work and spent the day researching the Hood.

He had appeared in Starling City less than a month before and had first made headlines for saving not one, but two billionaire playboys: Tommy Merlyn, whose father owned Merlyn Global, another company that wanted to recruit her, and Oliver Queen, whose mother owned Queen Consolidated and who had been thought dead for five years after a boating accident on a business trip to China with his late father.

The vigilante had apparently targeted the city’s rich through death by arrow ever since his appearance and had killed over fifteen of Starling City’s richest. Felicity could not believe her luck. Her soulmate was not only a cold-blooded murderer, he was a serial killer.

She began putting all of her effort into finding out who her soulmate was, but came up with nothing. If she was tied to this man for the rest of her life, she was making sure that she did everything she possibly could to figure out his identity. Felicity set up an alert on her phone to warn her of any news reports or updates on her assumed soulmate and tried to correlate his appearances with any other data, but to no avail.

She tried to stay out of trouble so as to avoid the supposedly inevitable encounter she would have with the Hood because, despite searching for his identity, she wanted nothing to do with a killer, even if he was her soulmate. She had every intention of discovering his identity and avoiding him for all eternity.

But, as Felicity’s luck would have it, this plan failed within a month of being implemented.

* * *

In her defense, Felicity made every effort to stay out of the areas in which the Hood was most active. She drove her car to and from her home in the Glades, the poorer, run-down section of Starling City, everyday and avoided walking alone and at night.

But, when her red Mini Cooper broke down two months after the arrival of the archer, she had no choice as to make the sketchy trek through the Glades to her townhouse from work after dark.

Felicity regretted staying after typical office hours to help fend off a cyber attack on the servers if only for the fact that she was deviating from her plan of never putting herself in a position to meet the Hood, but it couldn’t be helped; on the plus side, her bank account would thank her for the overtime cash in no time. She stuck to well-lit streets with the hope that she could make it home without attracting too much attention despite the fact that she was an attractive, well-dressed blonde walking alone in the most run-down portion of Starling City.

But, this plan did not last long as she was less than three blocks from her home when she was grabbed off the sidewalk and pulled into the nearest alley.

Her first reaction was to scream at the top of her lungs as her assailant, who she assumed was a man due to the amount of brute force dragging her, pulled her alongside the filthy garbage cans and strong mildew stench of the alley.

Her second reaction was to try and fight the man using the free movement of her legs, which only resulted in him yanking her head back by her ponytail, causing tears to spring to Felicity’s eyes. He placed a knife at her throat, making her seize up in fear, and the sound of his rough, gravelly voice in her ear was enough to make her shiver.

“Where are you going alone this time of night, pretty thing?” He paused to stroke her cheek with his index finger which caused Felicity to sob harder.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of you, just as long as you stay still and quiet. I don’t want to attract any attention, now.” He continued to stroke her cheek as he ran his nose over where her neck connects with her shoulder and inhaled.

In this moment, Felicity’s thoughts did not stray to her soulmate; they were only focused on this man and this alley, and she feared what would happen to her after he had his fill of her. She was going to be raped, or killed, or both. Someone was going to find her body in this alley. Someone would have to call her mom about her. Her poor mother who just wanted to keep her daughter safe. She would be-

Her thoughts were interrupted suddenly when an arrow was shot into the brick behind her just two inches from her attackers ear. Both her and her attacker stiffened in surprise as her savior jumped from the fire escape attached to one of the surrounding building’s side that he was perched on and landed directly in front of them. It was the vigilante!

In all of her life, she had never seen a sight as intimidating as the Hood in full getup with a bow in his hands and an arrow pointed at her would-be rapist. Her eyes widened in surprise as his obviously modulated voice emerged from under the dark green hood and contained the words that would change her life forever: “Let her go, or I will put an arrow in you!”

Oh frack!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think? Let me know your thoughts! I will try to have a new chapter up by next Saturday (Feb. 3rd), but my life is crazy, and I'm still getting into the groove of free writing, so I will try not to make any promises about updates and posting schedules! This will probably between 10-15 chapters total when all is said and done, but I haven't written past this point, so it may take me longer to update as I figure out the direction I want to go with this!


	2. The other side of this story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We know how Felicity feels about her soulmate. But how does Oliver feel?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I hope you guys know that you are amazing! Every one of you that gave kudos or commented is freaking awesome! I don't think I expected this story to get as big as it has, and I could not be happier:) I am giving hugs through the internet to all of you right now! This kind of turned into a monster, but whatever; I knew where I wanted to end it, but I just kept adding and adding to it. Future chapters will probably not be this long. Once again, I do not have a beta, and I do not own Arrow; I just own my work and my thoughts. Enjoy!

“Oh frack!” Felicity muttered, and if it wasn’t for her life currently being on the line, Oliver would have smiled at her words; he had finally come face to face with his soulmate.

* * *

Oliver was in love with his soulmate. He believed that she was the most adorable person in the world. Well, he hadn’t quite met her yet, but that’s besides the point. 

He had been obsessed with the unique quality of his soulmark ever since he had first been able to read it. It was the most individual mark he had ever seen branded on a person’s body; no one else he knew had a soulmark that was as full of character as his. 

He just wanted to meet this girl who had stolen his heart before he even set eyes on her. 

Oliver’s family was one of the richest families in Starling City because they owned Queen Consolidated, one of the most successful companies in the country. He felt as though everything always had to be perfect about him because he was always in the public eye. His parents, Moira and Robert, tried to paint a picture perfect image of their family, but when the family was alone, they were both cold towards each other as well as Oliver and his little sister, Thea. 

Oliver thought is was really strange how distant his parents were considering that all of the other soulmate couples he knew were extremely affectionate. He began to lose hope of ever being happy with his soulmate; not every soulmate pairing was joyful, as evidenced by his parents. He couldn’t believe that he would be unhappy with his soulmate, but with how his parents acted, he would think it was the worst thing in the world. 

What if they hated each other? Or worse, what if he loved her and she hated him? The idea that he could be rejected by the person he had fallen in love with was frightening to him. 

It wasn’t until his parents finally explained to him when he was twelve that he understood; they weren’t soulmates, and they only married as a business deal. 

While it was terrible news, it gave Oliver hope. He wasn’t going to be doomed to hating the one person who he was attached to forever. They would fall in love and get married just like every other normal soulmate couple did. He would love her. 

But, even though he had a soulmate and vowed to remain faithful, so he could show her how much he loved her, many girls still tried to get with him. With his wealth and good looks, every girl his age wanted to be his because they realized that they could use Oliver’s fame and money to their advantage, even if they would never truly be happy. 

But, Oliver made sure to steer clear of all of the girls who threw themselves at him because he knew that no one could make him truly happy except his soulmate. All he wanted in this world was her. His mother and Thea teased him relentlessly for it because he was one of the few teenage boys who would resist an endless number of girls. 

On the other hand, his best friend, Tommy, despite having a soulmark, made his way through every willing girl in high school, not once, but twice. 

“Why don’t you just get a girl or two, man?” said a sixteen-year-old Tommy as he waited for Oliver to collect his books from his locker. “More girls proposition you than me, you lucky bastard!” 

“Tommy, we’ve been over this; I don’t want to-” 

“Yes, I know. You ‘don’t want to disrespect your adorable soulmate by making the rounds like a manwhore like me’” Tommy recited, rolling his eyes and putting air quotes around the words his best friend had repeated so many times.

“Exactly,” Oliver said, “If your speeches about why I need to become a man and sleep with a bunch of girls haven’t worked by now, what makes you think that they are going to work today?” 

“I’m just saying, man. Your soulmate never has to know.”

“Yeah, well, that’s not going to happen because I am going to love my soulmate no matter what, and I am not going to betray her like this,” Oliver said, not believing how nonchalant Tommy could be about cheating on a soulmate. 

He guessed it was because Tommy’s mom died when he was eight, and since then he had never wanted all of his happiness to rely on one person; he didn’t want to fall in love with someone and then get heartbroken if they left him. 

Oliver could not relate in any way; there was nothing in this world that could have made him more happy than his soulmate. He just wanted to see his perfect mate who he could tell was funny without trying to be. He smiled just thinking about her. Hell, every time he looked at his mark, he got a warm and fuzzy feeling in his stomach. It felt like he couldn’t wait another day to meet his perfect match. 

“Hey, Ollie,” purred Laurel as she walked down the hall, flipping her hair. “Want to have some fun at my place?” she whispered, trying to make her voice more husky and sensual.

Oliver rolled his eyes at her; she had made it a habit to “have fun”  with all of the guys in their school with soulmarks, which was all of them seeing as not having a soulmark was extremely rare. She had propositioned him almost every day since the beginning of this year, and he has been the only guy not to crack and give into her charms.

“No, Laurel, for the last time, I am not going to ‘have fun’ with you or anyone else who is not my soulmate. She is perfect in every way that you are not, so please stop suggesting to me that I should ditch her,” Oliver said, exasperated. 

“Well if she’s so perfect then how do you fit into her life, huh? Your family is elitist, your dad is a creep, and you have more family secrets than family values. Your ‘perfect soulmate’ isn’t going to want someone who as damaged as you are, Queen. The best thing you can do for her is stay out of her life and keep her out of your drama. So why don’t you come over to my place and I can show you how great life can be without your soulmate?” she asked, raising her eyebrows and smirking as if she just won. 

“For the final time, Laurel, I will not do that to her,” Oliver said, “Plus, we both have to get to class.” He used the impending first period bell as an excuse to get as far away from Laurel as possible. 

But her words kept coming up in his mind, over and over again. Why would he think he was good enough for his amazing soulmate? 

Laurel was right; his soulmate would probably want nothing to do with him. He couldn’t put his soulmate through being attached to a Queen for the rest of her life.

He had to let go this idea that she was going to want to be with him because he knew that as soon as she knew that she was forever tied to Oliver Queen, she would run for the hills. He didn’t want to get his hopes up that she would actually want to be with him.

But, the constant thought of their inevitable meeting consumed him. They were destined to meet in one way or another, and he wanted to make her as inclined to stay away from him as possible, so he would not go through the pain of losing her. He had to make sure she would stay away from him by making himself as undesirable to a perfect girl like her as possible.

He took Laurel up on her offer. And Jenny. And Kelly. And Brittany. And Laurel again. Even though it broke his heart every time, he felt he needed to be a heartbreaker in order for his perfect match to eventually find happiness, even if it wasn’t with him. 

He became the ultimate party boy throughout high school because he knew that anyone as smart as he figured his soulmate was would know well enough to stay away from the playboy at all cost. He even begged his father to help him get into college after college, dropping out of each one after barely a semester each time, in order to make sure there was a warning sign on him that could be read from miles away. 

He didn’t want her to get close enough to him that his heart would break when she eventually realized that he wasn’t worthy of her. 

* * *

Everything changed when he went on a business trip with his father to China. What was supposed to be a two-week-long vacation using the Queen family yacht,  _ The Gambit, _ turned into five years of actual hell.

He originally intended for this weekend to be a weekend that he could ignore Laurel’s insistence that they become more than a casual hookup by distracting himself with Laurel’s sister, Sara. She was fun, as well as very flexible, and respected Oliver’s decision to protect his soulmate; she was doing the same thing because she felt that she was not good enough for her soulmate either. 

But it all became very not relaxing when the ship started to pass through a storm. What seemed to be just a few small waves turned into one of the worst nights of his life. He had to watch Sara being swallowed by the waves that started to fill the ship.  _ The Gambit  _ was sinking with Oliver in it. He started to lose consciousness while under the waves, and the last thing he thought of was his soulmate; he would never meet the only woman he had fallen in love with. 

. 

* * *

He was surprised to find that he woke up on a life raft with just his father and another member of _The_ _Gambit_ ’s crew because he thought he was going to die without meeting his soulmate. 

After days floating in the sea, hope was beginning to be lost. There was little chance of rescue this far out in the North China Sea, and their food supply was dwindling. Oliver’s father told him about how he had wronged the people of Starling City; he had used his position of power to swindle hundreds of his employees out of the pay they deserved in order to not go bankrupt. He then explained to Oliver that they both would not survive and that Oliver had to make amends for his wrongdoings. 

Then, to Oliver’s horror, Robert Queen shot both the other member of the crew and himself in order to give Oliver the best chance at survival with their limited rations. Oliver felt like everything he had ever known had crumbled around him; he knew his father wasn’t perfect, but he could never fathom his father a criminal 

Those three days that he drifted alone and isolated in the North China Sea were the most lonely days of his life. 

* * *

When he washed up on the shore of an island, he thought that he would be isolated forever. He never expected to meet Yao Fei, a man who took him in and instructed him on how to survive on this hell of an island. Yao Fei taught him that on this island it was either kill or be killed and started to teach him how to defend himself. 

Shortly after, he discovered a notebook of his father’s in the lifeboat he arrived in that contained a list of people who had, like Robert Queen, desecrated Starling City by using their wealth to advance themselves by abusing the poor and weak. Oliver decided then and there that he was going to obey his father’s last wish somehow and right all the wrongs that could have been prevented in Starling City. 

It wasn’t until he and Yao Fei were hunting one day, that he was attacked and kidnapped by men he had no idea were on the island; he thought it was just him and Yao Fei.  

He was taken to their camp, and when he did not want to give up any information on Yao Fei, their leader, Edward Fyers, decided to torture him; it was the most painful thing he ever had to endure, their knives and blows. It felt like his whole body was on fire and nothing could make the pain stop. 

But that wasn’t the worst thing they did to him; they found his mark and threatened to find her in some way. Oliver’s face paled in response. He would take anything they threw at him if only to keep them away from her in every way he could; he would endure everything they threw at him if it meant they would leave her alone. 

They continued this agony of torturing him whether it be with knives or threats to his soulmate for what felt like hours. He thought he was going to die from blood loss when he heard Yao Fei coming to rescue and take Oliver back to the cave in which they lived.

While on the island, he also met Slade Wilson, a man who had first come to the island to rescue Yao Fei for the Australian Secret Intelligence Service; in addition to Slade, he also met Shado, Yao Fei’s daughter who he came as close to falling in love with as he ever had, except for with his soulmate. 

All of them helped Oliver adapt to island life and advance his archery skills to help take down Fyers and his plot to destroy a Chinese commercial airliner in an act of terrorism. This plan resulted in Yao Fei, Oliver’s biggest mentor on the island, being killed by Fyers after he was forced to admit guilt for the attack on video. 

In retaliation, Oliver killed Fyers, and the man who had made this hellish island even more hellish was gone from Oliver’s life. He could breathe knowing that none of Fyers’ men, who had been killed when their camp exploded, could ever harm his soulmate.

* * *

For a while, it was quiet on the island. Oliver and Shado continued their relationship, much to the chagrin of Slade. 

Then, months later, Shado, Slade, and Oliver had to deal with Anthony Ivo, a scientist residing on a boat just off the coast of Lian Yu, who wanted to recreate mirakuru, a substance first used by Japan in World War II to create indestructible super soldiers and that was found on a Japanese war submarine on the island. 

In the fight to take down Ivo, Oliver encountered one of his ghosts: Sara. 

She had been rescued by Ivo from the sinking of  _ The Gambit _ and had been alive this whole time. Oliver was relieved that he had not been the sole reason for her death, but she was still working against him. 

She helped Ivo torture him for information, and once again his soulmate was threatened by his capturers. He could not believe that Sara would be so cruel as to take his biggest weakness and use it against him. 

But, it turned out that she only did that so Ivo would trust her in order to be alone with Oliver and help him escape. She helped Oliver get off the ship and back onto the island along with several other prisoners, who were going to be experimented on using the mirakuru, and herself. 

After the fight with Ivo in order to get Oliver back, Slade’s injuries were too severe, so the group decided to give him mirakuru they found on the island in the hopes that it would save his life. 

Soon after giving him the mirakuru, Shado, Sara, and Oliver were captured by Ivo’s men. Ivo made Oliver choose between Sara and Shado, and when Oliver protected Sara, Ivo shot Shado in the head. Slade, who had been in love with Shado despite her relationship with Oliver, was completely heartbroken and vowed to do anything to make Shado’s killer suffer.

In response to Ivo killing Shado, Slade and Oliver made a plan that would end Ivo’s insanity once and for all. The rescued prisoners would fire one of the missiles from the original Japanese submarine on the island and blow up Ivo’s ship with him on it. 

But, when the missile didn’t launch when expected, Slade, Sara, and Oliver had to take down Ivo by hand, going on the ship themselves in order to kill Ivo and his men. When Oliver was engaging Ivo,  Ivo revealed that Oliver could have saved Shado, knowing that Slade was within hearing distance. 

Slade turned on Oliver in a fit of mirakuru rage, revealing that Shado was his soulmate, but she didn’t know; the first thing Slade said to her was “hello” and because she had heard it so many times, it didn’t register to her that Slade could be her soulmate. Slade realized that Oliver made her happy, and he was not willing to ruin their friendship by telling her, so he stayed on the sidelines. He just had to step back and let Oliver make his soulmate happy.

“Why would you let Ivo kill her?” Slade bellowed as he advanced on Oliver, pulling his blade out of its sheath, Ivo completely forgotten. 

“You made it seem like you had no choice in the matter, but you did. You did, Oliver! You took my soulmate from me and then threw her away like she was nothing! I hope you know that once I am done with you, I am going to do everything I can to track your soulmate down and slaughter her like you did to Shado. Your last act will be to kill your soulmate, Oliver. How does that feel to know there is nothing you can do about her demise?” Slade sneered as Oliver was backed into a corner on the ship with nowhere to escape. 

All Oliver saw was red. He had to protect his soulmate from harm; if she was tied to him forever, he would make it his duty to make sure she was never harmed because of something he did. 

But Slade’s mirakuru-enhanced abilities were too much, and he started to choke Oliver to death, threatening the safety of his soulmate as he did so. 

Just as Oliver was starting to lose consciousness, his whole world erupted in fire; the missile finally launched towards the ship with Oliver, Slade, and Sara inside it. Without warning, the ship was torn in half by the explosion, and Sara was dragged into the water once again as Oliver lost consciousness.

* * *

When he woke up several days later, he was in Hong Kong, and Amanda Waller, the leader of A.R.G.U.S., a secretive American military organization, forced him to stay in China as one of her assets, learning to kill for her, because he knew he couldn’t go home until he was sure he could defend his soulmate’s life from harm. 

With all the people he had pissed off over the years, he knew that as soon as it was revealed that she was his soulmate, she would constantly be under fire and scrutiny from everyone. 

Amanda knew that he would do anything she said to make it back to his soulmate, wherever she was, just so that he could constantly protect her; she used the constant threat of finding and killing his soulmate to keep him in line and to protect the organization from being exposed when Oliver decided to finally go searching for her. 

One of her subordinates, Maseo Yamashiro, was tasked with helping Oliver improve his interrogation and execution tactics that would help him in both his father’s mission and his bodyguarding of his soulmate once he found her.

* * * 

While in Hong Kong, A.R.G.U.S. caught wind that the Triad, a group of Chinese criminals led by China White, was attempting to create an Alpha-Omega super virus that could kill an entire city. The search for China White led to Oliver and Maseo being ordered to go to Starling City in order to get information about one of the undercover Triad members in the United States who coincidentally worked for Oliver’s family’s company, Queen Consolidated. 

To be back in Starling was weird because he had to maintain a low profile, and he couldn’t interact with his family without them being eliminated by Waller. Which all led to his mission; he had to sneak into his father’s old office after hours and retrieve information about the employee from the computer there in order to find the Triad member and retrieve further information. 

While downloading the files, he came upon two video files intended for him and Thea, left by his father. Despite hearing his dad’s last wishes, he still felt like both him and Thea needed answers about their father, so he used a spare flashdrive to download the videos onto.  

When Maseo warned him that someone was coming, he probably cut it a little close, but he wanted to know what else his late father had to say. He was still pulling the thumb drive out of the computer when he heard the elevator open; he just barely had enough time to hide out in the conference room next to the office when he watched a cute blonde walk in. 

He never expected anyone to be here this late, as it was well past normal office hours, but he would just wait for her to leave before returning the files to Maseo. At least while she was there he could admire the view of her in her polka dot blouse and short black skirt that revealed legs ending in black pumps. 

She looked like a librarian that he would be glad to get a reprimand from. He expected her to just set the file she was holding on the desk and make her way home to the boyfriend she must have.  

What he didn’t expect her to do after she delivered the file, though, was to address the picture of him on his mother’s desk:

“You’re cute. It’s too bad you’re, you know, dead. Which is obviously way worse for you than it is for me.” She made a cute huff like she couldn’t believe what she just said. 

“I really need to learn to stop talking to myself,” she muttered as she walked back out of the office. 

Oliver’s heart felt like it was pounding out of his chest. 

This woman just lilted the words that had been branded on his wrist for twenty-five years. 

This was his soulmate. 

This adorable, blue-eyed, blonde-haired woman who looked like the sexiest librarian alive was his soulmate. She was even more perfect in person. 

The pull he had towards her was insane; it took all of the energy in him not to reveal himself and just hug her. He knew he just had to see her again, even if he wouldn’t allow himself direct contact due to how horrible of a person he had been these past few years. He was a killer, and he wasn’t willing to subject herself to him. 

He just knew that he had to make his way back here eventually. 

For her.

* * *

Five years after the sinking of the Gambit, Oliver made his way back to Starling City for good. 

After his collaboration with A.R.G.U.S., he found himself a part of the Bratva, or Russian mob, alongside Anatoly Knyazev, one of Ivo’s prisoners who he rescued from the ship, and who made it back to his home country of Russia after his rescue. 

Anatoly taught him everything that a Bratva member should know, and even offered to let Oliver become a leader of sorts within the Bratva. 

But, Oliver had to correct his father’s mistakes, see his family, and most importantly, he had to protect his soulmate. He would not let any harm come to her, no matter who he had to hurt to make that possible. 

So, Anatoly introduced the idea of becoming the Hood, using the green hood that was once Yao Fei’s and Shado’s on the island as a disguise so that he could complete both of his missions. 

He left Russia with Anatoly’s help. He was found on Lian Yu by a Chinese fishing boat in order to protect his connections with both A.R.G.U.S. and the Bratva and keep everyone from being suspicious that he was ever off the island. He couldn’t wait to go home. He couldn’t wait to see his soulmate again. 

* * *

When he returned home, he did not expect everything to be as different as it was. 

Thea, who was twelve when he left for China, had grown into a troublesome, sarcastic seventeen-year-old. 

After the alleged death of both him and his father, Moira found happiness in and married Walter Steele, her true soulmate and a new executive at Queen Consolidated; everyone tried to hide this fact from Oliver because of all of the changes he had missed in the previous five years, but he made it very clear to them that he was happy once they got the courage to tell him. 

Even Tommy had matured; he was in a committed relationship with Laurel Lance after they both realized that they were soulmates despite knowing each other for years. 

He had missed so much in his family’s lives, and he would be sure to protect them and his city with everything he had.

But, that became a little difficult because his mom insisted on hiring a bodyguard named John Diggle, or Digg, after he and Tommy were attacked and kidnapped; he had to fight back against his attackers, but luckily Tommy was still unconscious, so his abilities were not revealed. He figured that he would have to make the hooded him known eventually, so he decided to say that he was saved by a man in a green hood in order to explain their rescue. 

Despite his insistence that he was fine and not hurt, his mother demanded that he have a bodyguard around him at all times to prevent this in the future. Digg was tasked with following and protecting him everywhere, which was not good for his nightly activity of killing one-percenters, so he kept giving Digg the slip, in order to continue with his missions. 

It wasn’t until Digg got dosed with a highly dangerous drug that Oliver had to reveal his identity and save him. 

At first, Digg was shocked and frightened; the Hood had made a name for himself in all the worst ways. But, when Oliver explained his father’s last wishes, Digg decided to join him, albeit reluctantly, in the hopes that he could protect Oliver and fulfill the promise he made to Moira.  

* * *

After being back in Starling for two months, Oliver felt that he was completing all of his self-imposed challenges perfectly. 

He had managed to keep more than a dozen elites from hurting anymore people, even if it meant killing them, and he managed to find his soulmate. 

He first talked to Walter about learning more about the the company, then swiped Walter’s access card to all of the company files wasn’t looking. He made his way down to the employee file room and continued to search each woman’s file until he came across her familiar face. 

He discovered she was named Felicity Smoak, and judging from her file, she was one of the most brilliant minds at the company; she had graduated MIT at nineteen with a Master’s in Cybersecurity and Computer Sciences and was a certified genius on top of that. As if he didn’t have enough reasons to love her; Oliver fell more and more in love with this girl the more that he read about her brilliance. 

But, he became more and more wary of his role in her life. He thought that she was out of his league before; now that he knew that she was a genius who had graduated college at such a young age, he truly knew that he didn’t have a place in her life. He definitely wasn’t going to ruin this poor girl’s life by tying her to him for the rest of their lives. 

So he spent all of Felicity’s waking hours watching over her; he was glad Walter bought his excuse that he was interested in the company so he could spend all day at Queen Consolidated watching out for any potential threats that could harm his soulmate. 

As soon as he knew she was safely in her apartment for the night, he would get to work on the streets, following his father’s list of names to put a stop to the blatant elitism in his city. 

If he shut everything down at a decent hour, he would try to sleep, but the nightmares of torture and potentially losing his soulmate always haunted him. 

His days were full of constant work, but he couldn’t be bothered; it didn’t even feel like work when he watched over Felicity. 

She had an obsession with this show about time travel and telephone booths and mainly stayed out of trouble. She had very few friends, but that didn’t seem to bother her. 

It wasn’t until he noticed she started researching him, the hooded him, that he started to panic. He didn’t want her to have anything to do with him because in his line of work, she would be in an indeterminable amount of danger. He was very discreet when he was watching her, but he could have easily been spotted in the times he had been admiring her. 

Why did she want to know so much about him? Did she know that her soulmate was the Hood? And if so, how? Did he do something stupid like introduce himself as the Hood: “Hello, Felicity. It is I, the Hood, your soulmate and one true love?” 

He wouldn’t put himself past it; every time he looked at her it felt like he lost all abilities to do anything but smile lovingly at her. 

He loved the way she looked when she just woke up and her hair was wild. He loved the way she had an adorable grumpy face until she had at least three cups of coffee in the morning. He loved the way she talked to herself, babbled really, and the blush that stained her cheeks whenever she accidentally made an innuendo. He was content doing just what he was doing: protecting the people he loved. 

It wasn’t until he saw Felicity leaving Queen Consolidated on foot one day after dark that he had do more than just follow her home. What was she doing? He knew she had a red Mini Cooper to drive because he had admired how closely the small car resembled his Felicity; they were both colorful and adorable. 

Why would she risk walking home through the most dangerous section of Starling City? She was just asking for trouble. He made sure that he was with her, unseen, jumping rooftop to rooftop; there was no way that he was going to leave her alone this time of night. 

She was a little more than two blocks from her townhome when a man grabbed her and dragged her from his sight into an alleyway. 

How dare that man touch  _ his _ Felicity? 

Oliver leaped into action, using a zipline arrow to cut across the street onto the top of one of the buildings encasing the alley into which the man took his soulmate. 

When he saw the tears streaming down her beautiful face and the knife at her throat, he didn’t think; he just acted. 

He didn’t have time to consider exposing himself before he was shooting an arrow into the brick just a few inches from her attacker’s face and dropping down in front of them saying, “Let her go, or I will put an arrow in you!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what did you think?  
> I know a lot of you were expecting this to go in a different direction, but I hope you like where I'm going with this. This story was originally supposed to be a one or two shot from Oliver's POV just with that scene from 3x14, but I really felt like I wanted to dig into Felicity's perspective. Also, this was my first time writing for everyone except for Oliver and Felicity, so I hope I did them justice. My next chapter should be up early next week (probably the 11th or 12th); sorry I can't keep a consistent day for posting, but it takes me a little bit more that a week just because I do so many rounds of editing. Thanks for reading and listening to me ramble. You rock!


	3. "First" Meetings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with the latest chapter! This would have been up tomorrow, but instead of procrastinating this fic, I decided to get my priorities straight and procrastinate my homework instead;) This would have been up a little sooner today, but my laptop went into full-tantrum mode and I had to restart it like 30 times. Still don't have a beta, and I still don't own Arrow. Without further ado, here you go! Enjoy!

Felicity couldn’t believe her eyes. While she had suspected who her soulmate was, she just got all the confirmation she needed in order to know for sure. 

The words that had been branded on her for life were just growled at her attacker. Growled! 

She felt like she couldn’t breathe. 

It wasn’t exactly helping her anxiety that her assailant still did not let her go despite the hooded vigilante’s warning, so she still was on the receiving end of a bow loaded with an arrow. 

But, she didn’t have much time to dwell on that fact because, true to his word, the Hood shot an arrow into the man’s shoulder, wrenching him away from Felicity as he collapsed in pain. 

Felicity whipped her head around to look at the injured man and the arrow in the wound that was currently pouring blood. She turned her gaze slowly back to meet her savior: her soulmate. 

She could not believe he just shot that man; she knew that he had threatened to do so, but how could he be so cruel. She knew logically that her attacker would have had no mercy with her, but she still did not feel that that warranted the cruelty of an arrow; he would likely bleed out in this alley and it would all be her soulmate’s fault. 

Her soulmate looked relieved that she was unharmed, but seemed to be unaware of the fact that she wanted to flee from him. She stood there, unable to speak, with her mouth wide open as the Hood came closer, checking her for injuries. 

He could not hide his grimace when she flinched away from his gloved hand moving to caress her face. She didn’t understand why he was being so kind to her; he didn’t know who she was to him because she hadn’t said anything since she had seen him. 

So why did he seem so offended when she moved away? He obviously knew that he was a killer, so why did he try to subject her to his figuratively blood-stained hands? 

She was even more surprised when he spoke: 

“Felicity, are you alright? Please let me walk you home,” he pleaded, his voice still disguised by the modulator, but now holding a tone of softness and adoration. 

Her eyes widened even more in surprise; did he know that she was looking into him? He must have known if he knew her name and where she was when she was attacked. 

But if he did, why wasn’t he trying to silence her? Why was he offering to walk her home, and not threatening her to keep her quiet about her research over him? 

She could not be more confused. 

He apparently took her silence for a yes because he started to gather the bags she had dropped when she had been attacked and tried to hand them to her. When she failed to make any move to take them or to move out of the alley, he tried to grab her arm so that she did not have to be around her attacker anymore, but she just flinched away from him again. 

“Felicity,” he lilted. “We have to get you home. I’m not going to let you get hurt by anyone ever again.” 

She looked up under his hood where she was surprised to see that it did not cover much; she could still see his bright blue eyes surrounded with what appeared to be grease paint, and she couldn’t help but see how handsome he was. His eyes even appeared to be full of concern and adoration, something she didn’t expect from the hardened vigilante. 

This could not be the same man who had just cold-heartedly shot the man who was still in the alley, losing blood and moaning from the pain. 

For the first time since she saw him, she used her voice.

“I’m not going anywhere with you. You’re a monster who just shot a man with an arrow and is just going to leave him to die! I’m not going to let you near me no matter how attractive you are.” She saw him smirk as she realized what she said and tried to gather her thoughts with a quick “3, 2, 1.” 

“The point is,” she continued, “that you are a killer that has murdered dozens of people in the city, and I am not going to let you near me if I have a choice.” 

She could see the hurt flood into his eyes as understanding dawned on his face. 

She pulled her bags from his hands and moved to exit the alleyway, ignoring the vigilante currently giving her puppy-dog eyes in favor of pulling out her cell phone and calling the cops to help the injured man in the alley. Even though he had attacked her, she was still not the kind of person to just leave him there. 

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” the cheerful operator asked. 

“Um, I was just attacked by a man, but the vigilante stopped him before he could do anything,” Felicity replied, looking back at the vigilante, who was respecting her wishes of not coming near her. 

“The man needs an ambulance; he’s losing a lot of blood from where the Hood shot him.” 

As she said this, the Hood looked down in what could only be shame, which surprised Felicity. Surely he didn’t feel bad because of something she said; he had been killing for months with little to no remorse before then. What had changed? 

The operator continued to ask her questions about the situation as Felicity waited for the ambulance to show up. The final question the operator asked was “Is the Hood still there?” 

This wasn’t surprising as the authorities had been trying to catch the vigilante and put an end to his killings ever since he came on their radar months ago. The least she could do for him was protect him since he did, after all, save her life, and he seemed adamant that he was going to stay with her, even if he did stay a distance away at her request. 

So, she replied to the operator, “No. He left as soon as he realized I was alright,” and she saw obvious gratefulness in his hood-covered eyes. 

The ambulance showed up minutes later accompanied by a police detective who introduced himself as Detective Lance and who was apparently the lead officer on the search for the vigilante. He questioned her about the attack, and she answered everything truthfully except for the part about the vigilante that he had been searching for currently being perched on a rooftop across the street to keep an eye on her while staying out of sight. 

She felt an odd urge to protect him, despite the fact that he was a murderer and didn’t even try to deny it, so she said that she never got a good look at him and could not identify any features of him, despite the fact that his blue eyes were still engrained in her memory. 

When she was done being questioned and they said she was free to go, it was well after midnight, and she just wanted to fall into her bed and sleep for a hundred years, but with the memories of her soulmate, she knew sleep would evade her. 

Detective Lance drove her home, and the whole time she could feel the vigilante’s gaze on her as he followed the car, jumping rooftop to rooftop. 

She knew he had waited until she was safely inside and she had thrown the lock before he disappeared into the night. 

It had been a long day. 

* * *

Oliver couldn’t believe how stupid he was. 

Of course she didn’t want to be with him, especially when his first words to her had been a threat. 

He couldn’t even fathom how frightened she must be of him with those words on her body forever. He didn’t even think about how his first words to her would be said in that alley; all he could think about was getting that man’s hands off  _ his  _ soulmate. 

And then the look on her face when he tried to check on her. He had never seen her so frightened in all of the times he had watched her. And it was all because of him. 

He slammed the door to the Foundry open and jogged down the steps, just wanting to put down his bow, and take off his hood, and crawl out of his own skin as if that would stop him from being the monster his soulmate thought he was. 

His aggression perked up Digg, who had been at their computer, trying to track down another person on Oliver’s list. 

“What happened out there?” said Digg. “You look like someone kicked your puppy.” 

“I finally came face to face with my soulmate,” Oliver muttered, “and she’s terrified of me.” 

Digg’s eyebrows raised. He had been aware of Oliver’s infatuation with his soulmate and the fact that Oliver spent most of his days looking out for her, seeing as he had to follow Oliver around everywhere. Digg couldn’t help but pity Oliver; he really loved his soulmate, and Digg could tell that it was killing him to not be near her. 

“What did you say to her?” Digg questioned. 

“Oh, you know, I just threatened to put an arrow into her attacker,” Oliver ground out through his teeth, rubbing his face with his palms in frustration. 

“I’ve been in love with this girl for all of my life, and she wants nothing to do with me.” Oliver continued. “The worst part is that I don’t blame her. I wouldn’t want to be tied to me for my entire life either. I’m a killer, and I can’t subject her to that. I just need to let her go; it’s the best thing for the both of us” Oliver muttered, resigned to the fact that he couldn’t make his soulmate happy. 

“Hold up,” Digg interrupted. “Are you saying that after nearly three decades of being in love with her, you are just going to let her go, just like that? Oliver, you do bad things for good reasons, and while that may not make you the best person in the world, you’re not a monster. You do what you did to survive that island and take on the burden of your father that wasn’t yours in the first place. You are cleaning up this city. You just have to show her that,” Digg pleaded. 

With Digg’s words, Oliver felt better. He just had to show her that he was not a monster so that maybe, one day, she would give him a chance. 

“But how do I do that?” Oliver asked. “She said that she wanted nothing to do with me.” 

Digg answered, “I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”

* * *

Felicity didn’t sleep all that night, and when her alarm went off six hours after getting home, she wished she was a worse employee so that she could just call in and stay home. 

But, she had already done that several times in the search for the Hood, so it was coffee and concealer for her. 

She just hoped that her supervisor wouldn’t take advantage of the fact that she was the best in the IT department to dump most of his workload on her like he had in the past. 

She was midway through her morning and her sixth cup of coffee when she heard her name being called. 

“Felicity Smoak,” she heard a smooth voice ask from just outside her cubicle. She turned to look at whoever called her name only to be greeted by the sight of the most attractive man she had ever seen. 

His oddly familiar blue eyes drove into her own and she had to stop herself from practically purring at the sight of him. This man was  _ handsome.  _

She quickly ripped the pen she was chewing out of her mouth, hoping that he hadn’t noticed so that she could avoid making a fool out of herself in front of this enticing stranger. It didn’t seem like he noticed, so she quickly did a mental fist pump. 

“Hi,” the man continued. “I’m Oliver Queen.” 

“Of course,” Felicity replied. “I know who you are. You’re Mister Queen,” she said, recalling that this was her boss’ boss’ boss who had been rescued from an island just a few months before.

“No, Mister Queen was my father.” 

“Right, but he’s dead,” Felicity interrupted. “I mean he drowned.” She cringed at her own words. 

“But you didn’t,” she continued, “so you could come to the IT department and listen to me babble. Which will end in 3, 2, 1.” 

She closed her eyes as she counted down, hoping that he would put her out of her misery and leave before she made an even bigger fool of herself. 

When she opened her eyes, she was greeted with a sight she did not expect: he was smiling at her instead of frowning and firing her on the spot like she had suspected he would. He almost appeared to be looking at her in adoration. She couldn’t quite put her finger on why that gaze looked so familiar. 

He huffed a laugh and continued on as though she hadn’t said anything: “I’m trying to get back with the times. So much technology has come out since I’ve been away, and I heard you are the best person to talk tech with here.” 

She was flattered, but still confused as to why he had not run away screaming from her. 

“Of course, Mr. Queen-” 

“Oliver,” he corrected. 

“Of course, Oliver,” Felicity continued, “What do you want to know?” 

“Well, I was thinking about getting a phone and a laptop, but I know nothing about what the best kinds are or what type to get.” 

“I can help with that,” she replied, smiling in response. 

After making recommendations for both a phone and a laptop and ordering them both through Queen Consolidated, Felicity was surprised to find out that he was still here, appearing to try to make small talk and prolong their interaction. For what reason, she didn’t know. 

“Is there anything else I can help you with, Oliver?” she asked him. 

“Would you like to get some coffee sometime?” Felicity was taken aback by his question; nobody had ever asked her out, let alone someone as attractive as him. 

“Pardon?” 

“Felicity, would you like to get some coffee with me?” 

“Um, as friends?” she inquired. 

“Yes, Felicity. As friends.” He smiled in response and it looked as though he had won the lottery. 

“Okay,” Felicity replied, “I’m free this Saturday.” 

“Great,” he replied. “Give me your phone number and I can program it in when my new phone comes in.” 

“Okay,” Felicity said. “See you on Saturday.” 

“Looking forward to seeing you around, Felicity,” he replied, walking out of her cubicle. 

As he walked away, she determined that this was what meeting your soulmate should feel like. But he wasn’t her perfect match, and she could not understand why that thought made her feel lonelier than she ever had before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think? The next chapter will probably be up by next Wednesday (the 21st) but I have a lot of stuff to do (AKA me saying that I will get homework done, but in reality I will just go see Black Panther this weekend). See you guys next time!


	4. Coffee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my friends! I'm back with another installment! I know I said it would be up yesterday, but I only got 3 hours of sleep on Tuesday night (oops) and could barely keep my eyes open to eat yesterday, let alone edit this fanfiction. Sorry! Anyway, I still don't have a beta, and I still don't own Arrow (I wish). Enjoy!

Oliver felt as though he was flying; his perfect soulmate had agreed to have coffee with him. He could get to know Felicity without her thinking of him as a monster, and it would be easier to protect her if he could get close to her without her knowing his true identity. 

But he still wanted to be more than just friends. 

He wanted to run back to her cubicle and scoop her into his arms and kiss her. God, he wanted to kiss her. He had wanted to ever since he first laid eyes on her perfect lips almost three years ago. He had to physically hold him back every time she talked so he wouldn’t just kiss her and freak her out. 

He was a practical stranger to her, and, despite them agreeing to be friends, she didn’t know him. Yet. At least the Oliver part of him. She knew the Hood version more than he ever wanted her to. 

He just wanted to be around her because it seemed that every time he was near her every bad thing that he had done on that island went away. He felt his scars melting away, the bags under his eyes from his lack of sleep got smaller, and the guilt that came from all of the deaths he caused seemed to disappear. 

He felt rejuvenated every he saw her, like she was a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. It felt like he would never be able to get enough of her. It felt like Saturday would never come. 

* * *

When it finally did and he walked into the coffee shop, he was ecstatic; he could finally be around his soulmate without her running away from him, or thinking of him as a monster. 

He waited for several minutes, checking the door very few seconds, his heart sinking a little more every time he glanced over and she wasn’t there. She still hadn’t come in when it was twenty minutes after they were supposed to meet. 

His heart broke. 

She didn’t want to meet him. She realized who he was, and now she would never let him close to her again. He lost his chance with the only girl he had ever been in love with. 

He tried not to let his disappointment show as he rose up from his seat and pivoted on his heel to exit the coffee shop, trying to keep the unshed tears at bay. Only to run into a woman with blonde hair. 

Blonde. 

Felicity. 

“Hey, Oliver, sorry I’m late. I forgot to set an alarm, so I woke up late, and I had to run here. Which you probably don’t really care about anyway. Why would a handsome billionaire playboy care about why I’m late to meet him? I’m sure you have better things to do than listen to me babble. Again. Sorry,” she panted, out of breath, and he couldn’t help the smile that came across his face; it was like a reflex whenever he saw her. 

He felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulders when he made eye contact with his little sun. She actually wanted to see him; he hadn’t driven her off like he had been afraid of. 

“Hey, Felicity,” Oliver replied, drawing out her name and savoring it, so glad she was finally here with him. “No need to apologise. I’m just glad you could make it.” 

After they ordered, with Felicity ordering the largest cup of coffee they had and Oliver ordering hot chocolate because the doctors warned him away from caffeine, they sat down to talk about anything, everything. 

Oliver didn’t even realize that it was dark out until the barista said they were closing. They talked for over 7 hours, and Oliver fell even more in love with her with every interesting fact she presented. 

She was scared of kangaroos. 

She had never gone out of the country. 

She was allergic to nuts which led to an interesting college party experience with a pot brownie that resulted in a trip to the emergency room. 

She was obsessed with  _ Doctor Who _ , the television show he assumed was playing on her TV almost everyday. 

With every fact she bared, Oliver deepened the knowledge of his soulmate bit by bit, and he could not be more happy that she decided to share all of this with him. 

As they said goodbye, Oliver felt like he was walking on air. He was able to share everything with her, something he had not been able to do with anyone, not even his mother or Thea, since he got back from the island. 

Well, he was able to share almost everything. He may or may not have left out the part about them being soulmates and him being a masked vigilante at night.

But, he didn’t want to just share one facet of his life with her. He wanted her to get to know all parts of him, and maybe she would grow to accept him one day, flaws and all. 

* * *

Felicity could not believe how she felt about Oliver; she never believed she could fall so deeply in love with someone over a coffee date. 

She felt crazy. There was absolutely no way that he could be as in love with her as she was with him. 

She expected him to be arrogant and entitled like he had appeared in the years before his disappearance, always using his fame and money to his advantage. But, he could not be further from that playboy image. 

The whole time she was talking -babbling really- he had done what no one had done before: he listened. He even asked questions about what she was saying, unlike her mother, who would smile and nod and pretend to understand Felicity’s tech lingo. But Oliver would take in every word she said. 

And he was funny. With how serious he had appeared in the media the previous few months, she was surprised when he cracked a few jokes, and he seemed to be even happier once she started to smile, or her shoulders shook in laughter. 

She couldn’t believe that she felt this way about a man who wasn’t her soulmate. She had only caught a glimpse of a portion of his soulmark, but she could tell it wasn’t anywhere near the terrible babble she let out when she first saw him. 

Felicity just could not believe her luck. 

Of course she would be the woman to fall in love with a man who wasn’t her soulmate while simultaneously hating the man destined to be hers. She contemplated just telling Oliver how she felt, but she didn’t want to seem odd or strange. What kind of woman falls in love with another person’s soulmate? 

She just had to let the idea of being with him go, and as they said their goodbyes, she vowed to erase the idea that they could be together from her mind completely. Why give herself hope only for it to be inevitably ruined?

When she set foot in her townhome that evening, she was surprised to see that it was pitch black; she usually left one or two lights on so she would be able to walk around without falling or tripping like she was apt to do. 

She flicked the light switch on, but even that didn’t bring light into the room. Confused, Felicity flicked the switch up and down a few more times but to no avail. The room stayed dark. 

She figured it was just a power outage; they happened very frequently as she lived in the most worn-down part of Starling City. 

She shuffled along to her bedroom, trying not to fall, not seeing the hooded vigilante standing in her living room. 

She screamed when she heard his modulator-concealed voice say, “Felicity, I don’t want to hurt you. I just want to talk.” 

“I thought I told you to stay as far away from me as you possibly could. Why are you here?” Felicity asked evenly, trying not to yell at him. Why couldn’t he just take the hint and leave her alone? 

“I need your help, Felicity. I took what you said into account the other night. I want to make this city a better place, but I don’t need to kill to do that. I just need your help.” 

Felicity was dumbfounded. He wanted her help after everything he has done? As she contemplated, he stepped closer, taking her hands in his glove-covered ones and flinching when she cringed away, but he held her still. 

“Felicity, please,” he begged, hoping she could hear the desperation in his voice. He needed her to make him better. He needed her in order to not feel so alone when he puts the hood on. 

“What do you want me to do?” Felicity asked, and his answering smile was so bright it was almost worth compromising her integrity to work with a criminal. 

“I need you to help me be better. I don’t want to kill; I just want to right the wrongs and injustices in the city, but, I also need someone to help me in that. I already have a partner, but I need someone with your tech expertise to make it easier on us.” 

As he continued to list all the ways her helping him would improve the city, from keeping him in line, to helping him track down criminals and put them in jail rather than ending their lives, Felicity couldn’t help but agree with his statements. 

If he truly cared for her opinion, she knew he would follow her lead of not wanting to harm these people, even if they were criminals. Also, with some programs she created, it would be a lot easier to track down said criminals, so he could clean up the city faster. 

Felicity sighed. She couldn’t believe that she was agreeing with him. 

“I’ll agree to help you under two conditions. One, if you kill anyone else, I’ll stop working with you. And two, I don’t want to start a relationship with you. You may be my soulmate, but that doesn’t mean I have to love you. Besides, I think I’m falling for someone else.” 

She couldn’t help but flinch at the defeated look in his eyes that quickly turned to anger. She didn’t know if it was directed at her or not, but it still frightened her either way. 

Oliver couldn’t believe it. Of course she was in love with someone else. 

It was probably Barry, one of the computer techs he always saw flirting with Felicity. Or maybe it was Ray, the CEO of a rival company, who always brought Felicity coffee before trying to woo her over to his company. 

He couldn’t even fathom why he thought he could compete with undamaged men who could give Felicity everything she wanted. He would just have to settle with being friends with her, watching from a distance as she was swept into another man’s arms and rode off into the sunset. 

His inner monologue was so deafeningly loud that he almost didn’t hear her continue. 

“His name’s Oliver, and he is one of the best people I’ve ever met. He probably doesn’t even know how I feel about him, but I love him enough to let him live his life on his terms as long as there’s a place in it for me.” 

Felicity paused before realizing her mistake. 

“Oh god, I told you his name. Please do not put an arrow in him. Please,” she pleaded, unaware to the inner happy dance that Oliver was doing. 

Oliver couldn’t believe that she was falling for him. Even with all of his damage and scars, she was falling for him, just as he was with her. 

“Of course, Felicity. If he makes you happy, then I support your relationship, whatever form that might take, wholeheartedly,” the Hood responded encouragingly. 

Felicity was beyond confused. He acted so angry just moments before. Then, he just decided to calmly push her into another man’s arms. What was up with that? 

“Felicity, can you start helping us set up a decent computer system tonight? I don’t think that with the equipment you’re used to, you’re going to want to work on our monitor that’s older than you are.” 

“Fine,” Felicity responded. “But only because tomorrow is Sunday, and I don’t have to work.” 

He immediately gestured outside, and she barely had enough time to pick up the bag she dropped in her surprise before she was being ushered onto a sleek black motorcycle. Felicity was surprised; she had never seen him riding around on a motorcycle before, but she guessed jumping rooftop to rooftop didn’t always cut it for transportation. 

When they arrived at what she was calling the Hood’s lair, she didn’t think she could get off the bike fast enough. She was never one for thrills, especially hurtling down abandoned streets at 70 miles per hour on a metal deathtrap. 

She was shocked that the Hood didn’t comment on the fact that she was squeezing her thighs tightly around his own and leaving nail marks in the leather on his upper arm in the hopes that it would secure her to the motorcycle better. 

He took her down into the basement of what looked like an abandoned factory, leading her through a thick steel door by punching in a four-digit code into a keypad nearby. 

Felicity was surprised to see that his setup was actually somewhat decent, with what appeared to be a medical bay of sorts as well as a couple of training mats on which a tall black man was exercising. The man stopped punching a dummy and turned around as soon as he heard the metal door click shut behind them. 

He looked surprised that the Hood was there with another person, and with how he appeared, Felicity was sure he would hurt her for coming into his and the Hood’s hideout, even though she was invited. 

But, his eyes softened as soon as he got a full look at her, leading her to believe that he had been filled in on her relation to the hooded vigilante. 

“Hello, Felicity, I’m John Diggle, but you can call me Digg,” he introduced himself, surprising Felicity when he used her name. 

He tried to talk more when Felicity finally laid eyes on the tech she would need to upgrade, and she almost fainted in shock of how bad it was. How dare they use such outdated equipment? 

She made her way over to the poor travesty they call a computer, shoving her bag into the arms of a surprised Digg on the way over, and started cooing over the tech. 

“Mommy’s here,” she lilted, immediately stroking the computer in the hopes it would calm her down from the rage at whoever allowed this computer to not be updated in what appeared to be forever. 

She didn’t start noticing that she was muttering about “dinosaur machines” and “disrespecting the modern age” until she heard suppressed chuckling coming from both Digg and her soulmate. 

She whipped around, shooting both of them a harsh glare, before reprimanding them. 

“This is not funny. This is serious technology abuse, and as long as I am on this team, you will not disrespect another piece of technological beauty, alright?”

Both men immediately stopped laughing, and their frightened looks would have given her all kinds of satisfaction if she hadn’t just been made aware of a technological tragedy of monumental proportions. 

As she turned back around to inspect the pitiful setup, she heard Digg say, “I can see why you like her so much,” and she had to roll her eyes in exasperation. 

She spent the next hour coming up with a plan for the computer system and writing down a long list of parts she could use to customize her technology. She was surprised, however, to find that the Hood had no qualms about buying everything she said, despite the fact that she picked out top of the line tech. 

Both her soulmate and Digg looked surprised at her skills while she worked, requiring extra information every time she went on another one of her rambles. 

After she concluded making her wish list, she decided to call in a night and said goodnight to Digg. 

She was surprised when he hugged her, but she understood why. For some reason, despite only just meeting him, she felt like he was already one of her closest acquaintances, and she could tell he felt the same way about her. But, it was strange to see that he was a soft teddy bear on the inside, especially considering his serious and gruff outer appearance. 

The Hood helped her back onto the bike, but he still didn’t mention it when she grabbed onto him for dear life. In fact, she could see from the glint in his eyes and the smirk on his face that he  _ really _ didn’t mind how close she had to get to him to feel safe on the motorcycle.

He dropped her off at her house and waited for her to get off the bike before saying, “I’m really glad you decided to help me on this, Felicity. You didn’t have to, but you did, so thank you. And about Oliver, I’m sure he feels the same way about you. Because you are worth loving, Felicity.”

She couldn’t help the blush that covered her face and spread down her neck, so she turned around and made her way up the steps to her front door to avoid further embarrassment. She could tell that he waited for her to be safely inside with the door locked before he sped away on the bike. 

As she laid in bed that night, she couldn’t help but think that helping the Hood wasn’t going to be so bad. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how was it? We finally got some plot happening, am I right? The next chapter will probably be up next Saturday (the 3rd). It might be up next Friday, but I have a writing competition that day, and I might get home late, so I'll just aim for Saturday. P.S. I hope you guys know how much your comments and kudos brighten my day:) P.P.S. BLACK PANTHER=PERFECTION; 10/10 RECOMMEND.


	5. Red

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, people! I'm back! I don't have a beta, and I don't own Arrow (if I did, there would be a lot of hurt coming for New Team Arrow). Enjoy!

The last thing Felicity expected to find in her office when she made her way to work the following Monday was Oliver standing in the middle of her cubicle with a bouquet of red roses.

But what she expected even less were the words that came out of his mouth as soon as he saw her.

“Go on a date with me.”

“What?” Felicity asked, her eyes widening.

“Felicity, please go on a date with me.”

“Yes, Oliver, I heard what you said, I’m just confused,” she said, moving past him to put her bag down on her desk.

“Why are you confused?” Oliver asked, tilting his head slightly, looking like a lost puppy.

He continued, “I thought we had a great time last Saturday, and that you’d want to spend more time together.”

“Yes, Oliver, I had an amazing time, and would love to spend more time with you, but a date? Why ask me out? What about your soulmate?”

“Well,” Oliver responded, “she said she hated my guts and to stay out of her life. Besides, I never felt truly connected to someone until I met you, Felicity.”

Felicity couldn’t help the blush that stained her cheeks at Oliver’s words. However, she was still hesitant towards accepting his invitation.

“But, Oliver, what will everybody else say? Do you really think nobody will comment that one of the lowly IT nerds is dating the son of the CEO. They’ll think I’m after you for money, or God forbid I get a promotion. Everyone will say that I slept my way to the top. Oliver, I really like being around you, but I can’t accept a date with you.”

Oliver’s face fell, and she felt as if she had just kicked a lost puppy. Then a look of determination flashed across his eyes, and he responded.

“Felicity, please. I really like you, and I am willing to do anything for you to give us a shot. Please,” he begged.

“I’ll make sure that whatever is between us stays between us, at least until it gets serious. Please give this a chance, Felicity,” he continued, looking deep into her eyes.

Felicity conceded.

“Okay, Oliver. How does this Friday work for you?”

His answering smile was as blinding as the sun, and he responded “Sounds perfect. Does seven work for you?”

She nodded, so he said, “Send me your address, so I can pick you up, alright?”

She nodded again, still shocked that he actually wanted to go out with her.

He rasped a quick “See you then” before handing her the roses and stalking out of her cubicle, but not before pressing his lips quickly to her cheek as he passed her.

Felicity couldn’t help but shiver at the heat from the contact, and she wished he had left his lips on her cheeks a little while longer.

She did a quick spin and air punched, quickly glancing around to see if anybody saw her. It appeared no one did, so she smiled widely.

She had a date with Oliver Queen.

* * *

As Felicity paced her bedroom that Friday night, dresses strewn across the floor, she couldn’t help but bite her lip in nervousness.

She was supposed to be going out with Oliver Queen in less than an hour, and she still had nothing to wear; she felt like everything in her closet was too inadequate to live up to Oliver “I’ve dated models from every country around the globe” Queen’s standards.

She just had to think fast for something she could possibly wear that would make her look worthy of the Greek God that was her date.

Then it hit her.

The red dress.

The same red dress that her mother insisted she buy, despite the fact that Felicity insisted on longer sleeves to cover up her soulmark. But Donna didn’t listen and bought the dress for her daughter anyway, hoping that she had a use for it someday.

Felicity sent a quick thanks to her mother’s stubbornness before pulling the dress out of the garment bag in the back of her closet.

It was short, red, and even though it was plain, it was probably one of the most beautiful pieces of clothing she owned. She slipped it on before going to her bathroom to do her makeup and cover up her soulmark.

It would just be better to have it out of sight, so she didn’t get distracted by what could have been while being on a date with what could be her future.

A little more than forty minutes later she heard a knock at her front door, just as she was spritzing her favorite perfume on and slipping into nude pumps.

She opened the door, and couldn’t help it when her jaw dropped open. She didn’t think that Oliver could get more handsome than when he was wearing a Henley and jeans, but boy was she wrong.

He stood there wearing a suit, and she couldn’t help but think how attractive he looked. There was no way that a man as handsome as him would want to go out on a date with a nerd like her.

But it appeared he didn’t get the memo because as soon as she looked at his face in her perusal, she could see his eyes darkened with lust, scanning her from head to toe.

Oliver couldn’t believe that this gorgeous creature agreed to go on a date with him. He had to stop himself from growling when he saw her open the door. Her dress just made him want to slowly peel it off of her, and her heels made her legs look miles long.

He could tell the exact moment that she realized that he was staring because he saw a blush spread down her neck and he just wanted to follow its path with the tip of his finger. He never got tired of making her blush, and he made it his new life goal to cause it to happen as much as possible.

“Wow,” he said, his eyes finally meeting hers. “You look beautiful, Felicity.”

“So do you, Oliver. I mean handsome, not beautiful. Not that you’re not beautiful, but really attractive guys are usually referred to as handsome. And I’m going to stop talking because my mouth is currently occupied with my foot being shoved into it.”

He couldn’t help but smile at her babble. If it were possible for him to be even more in love with her at this point, he would have been.

“You’re perfect, Felicity. Let’s get out of here.”

She quickly grabbed her purse from a nearby table and locked the door behind her before following Oliver to his car. She wasn’t an aficionado of cars, but she knew that whatever kind he had, she would never be able to afford.

“You drive this?” Felicity questioned him, eyebrows raising.

“I usually ride my motorcycle, but I figured it would be easier to ride in this with a dress on, especially that one,” he replied, eyes raking over her legs again.

She couldn’t help but think of how sexy he would look on a bike. Kind of like her soulmate.

She scolded herself in her head. She couldn’t think of her soulmate when she was on a date with another man.

She ignored the thought of the Hood’s leather pants as he rode the bike, and looked over at Oliver to see if he noticed her being lost in thoughts. He didn’t notice because he was busy opening her door for her before going around to the driver’s side and letting himself in, and she thanked the fates he didn’t.

“Where are we going?” Felicity asked as soon as Oliver started the car and pulled off into the street.

“It’s a surprise,” he responded, the glint in his eyes oddly familiar.

“I don’t like mysteries, and surprises are just mysteries in pretty packaging,” Felicity lilted.

“You’ll find out soon enough. Just wait a few more minutes, Felicity. I promise it will be worth it.”

She hummed in response and waited to arrive at wherever he was taking her.

When they pulled up in front of Table Salt, one of the most prestigious Italian restaurants in the city, Felicity immediately started to protest. “Oliver-”

He cut her off.

“Felicity, I know that you said that you didn’t want to go out with me because everyone would assume you’re like every other girl I’ve dated: always after my money and fame. But, Felicity, we both know that’s not true. You are smart, and kind, and so humble that it hurts to see you don’t realize your true value in the company. I know that you are more than capable of being successful on your own, and I want to be there to cheer you on as you make your own success without anyone’s help. But first, I just want to have dinner with the most intoxicating woman I have ever met, without worrying about what everyone will say. Please, Felicity. Let me make this night special.”

She started to tear up at his speech, and he reached over to wipe her tears with his thumbs, palms resting against her cheeks.

“You need to know that you’re special, Felicity,” he said softly. “Are you ready to go in yet?”

After she made sure her makeup hadn’t run down her face, she nodded, so he quickly got out of the car and handed the keys to the valet before opening Felicity’s door and giving her a hand out of the vehicle. He led her inside the restaurant and her jaw dropped open.

Instead of the restaurant being filled with Starling City’s richest, it was empty with only one table in the center of the restaurant.

“What is this?” Felicity questioned.

“If nobody is here to see us, there is nobody to spread rumors, right? I just wanted to show you that even though you are priceless, I will do everything possible to prove my feelings for you.” Oliver looked at her with such conviction, and she could feel his seriousness as though it were palpable.

She walked over to the table, and Oliver pulled her chair out for her, waiting for her to settle into it before sitting in the chair opposite her. A waiter immediately made his way over to the table and asked for their drink orders, and before Felicity could speak, Oliver already ordered a bottle of Lafite-Rothschild 1982.

“How did you know I like red wine?” Felicity asked, causing Oliver to smile.

“You may have babbled it a few times at the coffee shop.”

Felicity would have been embarrassed, but the endearing smile on Oliver’s face told her there was no need to be.

They sat at the restaurant and just talked for hours long after the food they ordered was delivered to their table, long after they split a dessert, long after midnight. It felt as though they couldn’t get enough of each other, and there was no limit of things they could talk about.

It was magical the way Felicity felt she had known Oliver for years, and for some strange reason, she knew he felt exactly the same way.

On the ride back to her house, they held hands over the center console, his thumb rubbing incessant circles over her knuckles. It felt as though they needed constant contact, any type of contact, to not go insane.

Felicity couldn’t help but want the night to continue on forever. This was the most connected she had ever felt with anyone in her entire life, and she wished this moment could continue forever as he walked her up to the front door of her townhouse.

“I had a lot of fun tonight, Oliver. Is there any chance that we can do this again sometime?”

“I would love that, Felicity.”

“I don’t know what this says about me, but I really think I’m falling for you, Oliver. And I know that it’s not supposed to work out like this; we both have soulmate’s for God’s sake! And I know that you’d much rather be with the one made perfectly for you instead of me, but-”

She was cut off by his lips as he pulled her closer, one hand on each cheek in a searing kiss. Everywhere he touched her felt like fireworks were being set off, and her toes curled in her heels at the heat. She placed one of her hands on each of his wrists, keeping him in place as he continued his slow sensual assault on her lips.

His lips fit perfectly against hers, and she couldn’t help but open her mouth to his. In response, he tangled his tongue against hers, and she couldn’t help but feel that this was what home is supposed to feel like.

He pulled away slightly, quickly pecking her lips before setting his forehead against hers and looking deep in her eyes. Felicity felt as if an unbreakable tether had just connected them. Their breaths mingled between them and it could have been minutes, hours, days before Oliver spoke.

“Don’t ever think that you’re less than perfect for me, Felicity. Ever.” He quickly pecked her forehead before walking towards his car.

“Felicity, I expect that second date soon,” he said teasingly as he strolled around to the driver’s side door, and Felicity couldn’t help but blush at what just happened.

She turned around and fumbled with her keys as she tried to fit them into the lock, and she heard him chuckle from his car.

She knew he waited for her to enter her house and close the door before speeding off. She frowned. The Hood did the same thing.

She shook her head; she was just connecting pieces that weren’t going to fit together.

She made her way towards her bedroom, but she was so lost in thought she didn’t see the man sitting on her couch until after he stood up and stalked right towards her.

“Felicity Smoak,” the man lilted, his Australian accent thick, and her eyes widened when he said her name.

“I’m so glad I finally found you,” he continued.

She opened her mouth to scream, but before she could, a needle was shoved into the side of her neck.

She immediately felt sleepy, her eyes closing, and her body slumping forward.

She felt the man catch her before she hit the ground, and the last thing she heard before she blacked out was “You’re going to be very useful to me, sweetheart. Very useful, indeed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SO SORRY!!! Please forgive me! On a lighter note, I blushed crimson throughout the entirety of the writing of that kiss. This isn't even smut, and I'm already a blushing virgin. (face palms) If you want to know what Felicity's date outfit looks like I have a link for the dress (https://lookastic.com/women/red-skater-dress/shop/missguided-ponte-bardot-skater-dress-red-242788) and the shoes (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/281123201723036718/). Next chapter will probably be up by Monday the 12th. Now it's a race for how fast I can exit AO3 after hitting the post button and if I will make it out before the first rotten tomatoes are thrown at me.


	6. Slade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, people! I know you all are just going to skip this to get on with the story after that cliffhanger (attempts to laugh evilly, but almost chokes to death on saliva). This was supposed to be up earlier today, but I fell asleep for what I thought was a half-hour nap when I got home from school and woke up approximately half a millennium later. Lol, story of my life! I don't have a beta or own Arrow, and all that jazz. I hope you all enjoy!

Felicity’s head pounded as she came into consciousness, not remembering how she got into a position to have a hangover-level headache. 

_ What happened?  _ she wondered as she peeled her eyelids open. 

She tried to move her hands up to rub her temples and ease the pain in her head, but she couldn’t move her hand. Confused, she looked down to see what was hindering her, only to be met with the sight of both of her hands handcuffed to the arms of a chair. 

She looked around at her surroundings and she noticed she was in some sort of rusty abandoned warehouse. 

As soon as she awoke, a tall man with black hair and an eyepatch approached her from somewhere in the shadows.

“Hello, love. I see you’re finally awake; we can get started now.” 

At the man’s familiar voice, her blood ran cold. Everything came rushing back to her. 

The perfect date with Oliver. 

The absolutely mind-melting, toe-curling kiss. 

The man in her apartment. 

The darkness. 

“Who are you?” Felicity asked, her voice gravelly from being unconscious for an indeterminate amount of time. “Why are you doing this?” 

“Oh, sweetheart, all in good time,” the man replied, his voice fake and syrupy. “But first, I want to know about you.” 

He punctuated his statement by walking over to Felicity and rubbing away the makeup that covered her soulmark with some sort of rough cloth.

“What makes a beautiful woman like you fall in love with a soulmate who is unworthy? You have this blatant threat on your arm where you’re supposed to have an unforgettable message from your soulmate. Yet, you continue to care for him. Why is that, Felicity?”

Felicity gulped; she wasn’t aware when she woke up this morning that she would be subjected to an evil version of twenty questions.

“I was scared of my soulmate for a long time. But as soon as I met him, I realized that he was a good man who for some reason wants to make himself better for me. And even though I’m never going to be with him in the way he wants, I’ll always be there for him,” Felicity replied, thinking carefully over her words. 

“That’s where you’re wrong,” the man replied. “Your soulmate is not a good man. Your soulmate has killed people; he has killed my soulmate, and yet you still respect him. You need to see the true colors of your soulmate because he’s not who you think. You’re perfect soulmate is the monster you thought of him as before you met him, and he is unworthy of your love. I would kill you, but then your soulmate would just kill me and get his revenge. To truly ruin his life like he ruined mine, I have to do something worse. I have to make you stop believing in him because there is nothing he can do once you know the truth about him.”

The whole time the man declared his plan, Felicity tried to take in as much information as she could. She was being held by a psycho who wanted revenge for the Hood killing his soulmate. Said psycho was contemplating murdering her, but decided against it. The man wanted to ruin her soulmate’s life by making her distrust him.

Felicity always figured her soulmate would be the one to get her in trouble, and she was right; her connection to him got her kidnapped. 

But, she still wondered where she was fitting into all of this. 

The man said he wanted her to lose faith in her soulmate. But how? 

The only way she could think of would be to kill someone, but she knew that if it was her life on the line, he would always choose her, and she couldn’t blame him. She was so lost in her confusion that she didn’t realize what the man was setting up in front of her.

“Showtime, sweetheart,” the man lilted, and Felicity looked up into the lens of the video camera that was perched on a tripod in front of her. 

“Hello, kid,” he spoke, addressing the camera as he circled behind her, stalking her like prey as he traced his fingertips across the skin of her arm and making Felicity shiver. “It’s been a while, almost four years to be exact, since you killed my Shado. You thought you got rid of me, saving your soulmate from the threat I gave.” 

The man continued to stroke his fingers up each of Felicity’s arms, making fearful tears spring to Felicity’s eyes. 

“I’ll give you a choice at least, kid. If you come to the warehouse on Fifth Street and Main within the hour and reveal yourself to your lovely soulmate, showing her the monster you truly are, I’ll spare her life. But, if you don’t come, she dies. If you don’t come alone, she dies. If you alert the police, she dies. You get the picture” The man whipped open a switchblade and trailed the sharp tip up the same path his fingers had followed, not hard enough to draw blood, but enough to make Felicity wimper. 

“Time’s ticking, kid.” The man turned off the camera and pulled out another chair to sit directly in front of Felicity, facing her. 

“Now let me tell you a story about my soulmate,” the man said, surprisingly giddy for someone who was retelling the story of the love of his life’s death.

* * *

Oliver was fuming with anger as he watched the video that Slade somehow managed to transmit into the Foundry. 

He couldn’t believe that Slade was alive after all these years, surviving an arrow in the eye and drowning, completing his last promise to Oliver. Oliver wished that Felicity had never been tied to him, that she could live her life happily and stress-free. But the fates must have had other plans if they tied her to him. Oliver was going to kill Slade once and for all for even touching Felicity, let alone threatening her life.

He couldn’t help but look at Felicity as the video broadcasted, her hair a mess and her makeup smudged, and wonder if it was really just an hour ago that he had had the most mind-numbing kiss in his life. He had kissed dozens of girls, and none of them made him feel even close to how he felt with Felicity. 

With Felicity, it felt as though he was walking on air, heat scorching him everywhere she touched him. He felt like his life was suddenly complete. He felt alive -like he had a real chance at life, not just survival- for the first time since the island.

He swept the medical supplies off the table in frustration, running his hands down his face, hoping to wake up from this nightmare. 

“I can’t believe that he is still alive, Digg. And now he has Felicity. Felicity, Digg!” 

“Oliver, I know. You have to go and get our girl back.” 

* * *

The man, who Felicity found was named Slade Wilson, talked all about his soulmate Shado and how The Hood took her life. The whole time, Slade was surprisingly soft with her, explaining how he didn’t really want to hurt her, but she was collateral damage to help him destroy her soulmate. She couldn’t help the tears that flowed steadily down her face as she waited for her soulmate; she knew he would come for her if he knew, but there was no guarantee that he had received the ultimatum. 

After what felt like an eternity, Felicity heard a thump on the roof of the warehouse. As her and Slade looked up, her soulmate swung through a hole in the roof in a manner similar to how they first met, landing silently in front of them and pointing his notched arrow at Slade. 

“Let Felicity go!” The Hood bellowed, inching closer to the pair of them. But, before her soulmate could get close enough, Slade was behind her, his knife pressing into the delicate skin of her neck. 

“Now, kid, you’re really not in the position to be making demands. I want Felicity here to lose all faith in you. It’s probably the only fate that could happen to you that is worse than me slicing open her neck right now because you’ll have to live without her by choice, not by necessity.” Slade pressed the blade further into her throat, letting a small trickle of blood drip down and pool just under the cut of her dress. 

The Hood ceased his movements and lowered his bow, dropping it to his side in order to not indirectly hurt Felicity more than he already had. 

“There you go, kid. Now, show the lovely Felicity who she has really been hanging out with this last week.” 

The Hood hesitated as he set down his bow and brought both hands to his face to flip the hood back. It almost looked as if he were nervous, which Felicity thought was ridiculous; she had already made it very clear that she respected him enough to not hate him. She thought they had made a lot of progress from her hating him, despite not knowing each other for very long. 

Then he flipped his hood. 

“Oliver?” she asked, as though it was a dream, or a mirage, or a hallucination. Because there was no way that Oliver, her Oliver, had been lying to her this entire time. 

She could see the sorrow in his eyes as he saw her put the pieces together in her mind. 

The first meeting where he wanted to get to know her for no apparent reason. 

The Hood telling her how Oliver must love her as if he knew exactly how Oliver felt about her. 

How every time she touched Oliver it felt like magic, even though she thought they weren’t soulmates. 

Felicity’s head was spinning as she questioned, “How could you lie to me this entire time? I trusted you, Oliver, both parts of you. I told you everything about me, and you played me, just like another one of your stupid games!” 

She could see him visibly flinch at her words as though she slapped him. 

“So, Oliver, how does it feel to know that there is nothing you can do about how your soulmate feels about you? How does it feel to know that your soulmate will never pick you?” Slade asked, making Felicity remember that he was still there. 

“That’s the way it felt on that island, Oliver, when Shado chose you, but you didn’t choose her! You let her be slaughtered because of your connection to another woman. The only difference is that I’ll leave Felicity alive. For now. At least long enough for you to realize that you are a monster that even your perfect match can’t love.” 

Slade pulled the knife away from her neck long enough to slash the ropes at her wrists and pull her up by her ponytail, throwing her in Oliver’s direction. Oliver caught her easily, quickly checking her over for injuries. 

After he determined that the shallow cut in her neck and rope burn on her wrists weren’t fatal, he looked behind her, only to see that Slade had already disappeared. His attention was brought back to his soulmate when her weak voice caught his attention. 

“Oliver,” Felicity said. “Oliver, please let me go.”

It was obvious that she had been crying, and all he wanted to do was hug her to make sure that she was safe and secure in his arms. But, as much as it pained him, he respected her wishes and backed up, releasing her from his grasp. 

“Felicity, we need to get that checked out at a hospital,” Oliver said, nodding towards the shallow cut at her neck and turning towards the entrance of the warehouse nearest where he parked his bike. She didn’t make any move to go with him, so he stepped closer to her, trying to get her to look him in the eye. 

She probably thought that everything they had was fake, but he just wanted her to look at him to know that every touch they shared, every joke they both laughed at, and the kiss was all genuine. 

She went hysterical when he tried to touch her face, and he tried to calm her down, but every move he made to do so just made her more worked up. 

“No, Oliver, no!” She tried to evade his touches, and eventually, he let her keep her distance. 

“Felicity, sweetheart, I know that you must hate me right now, but I don’t want anything else bad to happen to you because of me. We need to get that stitched up to prevent infection. Please, Felicity.” 

At his pleading, Felicity looked into his eyes, and he could tell that everything they had had now been tainted in her memory. Everything they did now had some underlying deception to her. It broke his heart to see her look at him like this, just mere hours after he thought everything was perfect between them. 

She nodded slowly, wincing at the pain in her neck, and he sighed in relief. 

“Take me to the Foundry instead of the hospital,” she replied. Even after being kidnapped, she was still the more logical of the two; the police would be able to see the records at the hospital, so less questions would be asked if they handled it themselves. 

He led her to the bike, and she hopped on behind him, but it felt different than before. She still wrapped her body around his in a death grip, but instead of it being warm like before, there was now an air of clinical coldness to her actions. 

The ride to the Foundry was silent. 

As soon as Oliver opened the door to his hideout, he heard Digg ask “What happened?” 

What had transpired was obvious as soon as Digg spotted Oliver sans hood and Felicity with a cut on her neck and her arms wrapped around herself in a tight hug, keeping her distance from Oliver. 

After a quick glance at Oliver, Digg immediately went into protective mode in a combination of big brother and army doctor as he rushed towards Felicity. He immediately wrapped her in a hug of his own, and though she stiffened at first, she soon melted into his embrace. 

Oliver looked on to the pair’s embrace, happy that his girl was safe, yet sad that she would probably never let him close to her again. 

He watched as Digg released her from his hug and led her over to the med bay to treat her injuries. The whole time that Digg stitched Felicity up, she refused to talk to or even acknowledge Oliver, only staring at the floor and occasionally looking up into Digg’s worried eyes. 

After Digg was done, she hopped off the medical table and acknowledged Oliver for the first time since entering the lair. 

“Take me home.”

In three words she had managed to capture every ounce of betrayal that now consumed her. Oliver nodded and led her out, with Digg giving him a supportive pat on the shoulder on the way out the door. 

The drive to her house was even more silent than the last, and he could feel her becoming more and more distant. 

When they reached her house, she shot off the bike as though one more second on it would burn her. 

“Goodbye, Oliver,” she said, and he felt like she was saying goodbye for more than the night. He had to watch her walk into her house and away from his life. 

Despite being on a mainly deserted island away from civilization for the better part of five years, he had never felt so lonely in all of his existence than when seeing his perfect match walk away from him for what felt like forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm not exactly happy with my interpretation of Slade in this piece (he just has a surprisingly complex evil quality that I don't feel I write well no matter how much I edit) so take this with a grain of salt and just assume that Slade is probably going to be OOC this entire story. Next chapter will probably be up next Wednesday or Thursday (21st/22nd). Now it's past midnight and I still have to study for my AP classes. Great.


	7. Solitude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO SORRY that it has taken like 6845 years for me to update this story. My life has been absolutely nuts in the past five months, and I didn't have the time nor muse to write this story. I am officially a junior in high school, I got my license and a car (WOOHOO!), I passed both my AP Exams (Another WOOHOO!), and I have a job now. I will try not to leave you guys hanging for too long after this update. I don't own Arrow nor do I have a beta. Without further ado, on with the story!

For two weeks, Oliver didn’t see a glimpse of his soulmate. She made it a point to buy curtains so he couldn’t see in through her windows to check on her. She didn’t come to the foundry. She even made a note to reject all visitors when they came to her at work, especially him. 

Oliver felt as though when she had left him, she had taken part of his heart with her, and he couldn’t blame her. He had lied to her about who he was and led her on, knowing full well what would happen when she found out his secret. Oliver felt like he had to punish himself for what he did to Felicity because what kind of man does that to his soulmate? He stopped eating, almost entirely stopped sleeping, and didn’t go home for days at a time, staying at the cold and dreary foundry instead. 

Oliver was so caught up in his loss of his soulmate that he didn’t even notice when his behavior started to worry his family and friends. It was only brought to his attention when they asked him to come to the house, and he was met with the sight of his mother, Walter, Thea, Tommy, Laurel, and Digg in his living room, looking ready to bombard him with questions. 

As soon as they noticed him, he was met with Thea’s questioning voice: “What’s going on with you, Ollie? When you first came home, you were broody and standoffish, but a few weeks ago, you actually seemed human again. We all saw you smiling every time you checked your phone.  _ Smiling _ , Ollie. You were actually fun to be around. Now it seems that broody Ollie is back and we deserve an explanation as to why, so start talking.” 

Thea finished her statement with a huff and her hands on her hips, and with a glance at the others, he could tell they all shared the same sentiments, sans Digg, who just looked at him with pitying eyes. 

He opened his mouth to tell them it was nothing but Thea beat him to the punch, “I know that you’re going to try and say it’s nothing, Ollie, but I know you. It’s not nothing, and we want to help you.” 

Oliver took a deep breath and began. “I met my soulmate, and-” 

Before he could continue, all of his loved ones sucked in gasps of surprise and he was met with several shouts of various forms of congratulations followed by confusion from Thea. 

“Why aren’t you happy, then?” she asked, cocking her head to one side in curiosity. 

“That’s what I was trying to say,” Oliver continued, sighing before resuming. “I met my soulmate, and she rejected me.” 

The whole group was silent, mouths gaping, for a moment before Oliver was met with a chorus of questions. Oliver sighed, knowing that his family would not rest until they had a reason for his soulmate’s rejection. Oliver searched for a plausible lie that would appease his family because he wasn’t ready to share the fact that he was the Hood with them yet; he answered after a few beats. 

“She realised that she didn’t want to be tied to the playboy Ollie Queen for all eternity, and I can’t even blame her.” Oliver looked up from his wringing hands into six identical looks of pity. 

Thea continued to act as the spokesperson for the group: “Can we at least know who my future sister in law would have been?” 

Oliver hesitated before answering; he didn’t want to give up Felicity’s identity because he knew Walter knew her and his meddling sister would probably pay his soulmate a visit. On the other hand, the thought of lying and admitting someone else was his soulmate put a painful pit into his stomach. 

“Felicity Smoak,” Oliver whispered, but he knew they heard him. He could see slight familiarity at the name in his mother’s eyes and full-blown recognition in Walter’s eyes. “Who is Felicity Smoak?” Thea asked, but before Oliver could answer, Walter beat him to the punch. 

“Felicity Smoak works for our company in the IT department; she graduated MIT with a dual Master’s degree at age 19, and she is one of the most brilliant young minds at the company.” 

Tommy commented in his typical lighthearted fashion, “Who would have thought that  _ you _ , college dropout extraordinaire Ollie Queen, would be paired with a super genius? Am I the only one that sees the irony here?” He asked, addressing the group. He was quickly met with a slap to the back of the head by Laurel’s hand, and when he turned to look at her in indignation, a glare so intense that his smirk disappeared and he instantly shut his mouth. 

Thea was the one to break the silence. “Ollie, we know that you’ve made some questionable decisions in your life,” she said, “but that shouldn’t stop you from being happy. This girl has brought out the Ollie we have missed these past five years: the man who isn’t afraid to smile or joke or laugh, for God’s sake. You need to show her that man, Ollie.” 

“Thea, it’s not that simple. She-” 

Before Oliver could continue, Thea interrupted. “No, Ollie. It is that simple. You are a great guy, and you deserve to be happy, so you need to prove that to her, because she is the greatest thing to ever happen to you, Ollie. If you don’t, I will track her down and convince her myself.” Thea finished by crossing her arms and fixing Oliver with a death glare. 

Oliver sighed and wished that Thea was the same innocent, twelve-year-old sister he left behind to go on that yacht rather than this feisty teenager who would likely deliver on her promise if he didn’t buck up and beg for Felicity’s forgiveness. 

“Alright,” Oliver conceded, wondering how he was going to make it through without Felicity ripping him a new one. Good luck with that, Oliver thought to himself. 

* * *

Felicity spent the first few days after discovering Oliver’s secret hunkered down in her mountain of blankets, eating mint chocolate chip ice cream and watching old movie reruns. 

She hated that Oliver would lie to her about something so big and important and she was even madder about how many opportunities he could have told her. She allowed herself to wallow in pity for three more days before deciding enough was enough and cutting out every Oliver related thing from her life, no matter how much it hurt her. In doing so, it felt like her heart had been ripped in two and she could barely force herself to eat and sleep which is why she spent much of her awake time at work going through the motions of being an attentive IT personnel. 

It wasn’t until the sixteenth day since her discovery that she had any reminders of Oliver Queen. When she arrived back in her cubicle after her lunch break, she was surprised to see Digg waiting inside, Oliver right behind looking smaller than she’d ever seen him. 

“Felicity, can we talk?” Oliver asked in a voice so quiet she thought she’d imagined it.

“Oliver, I don’t know what you could possibly say to make what you did okay.” She could see him visibly flinch and for a moment her heart constricted in pity, which she quickly masked with hostility. 

“Felicity, I know what I did was wrong and that you’ll probably never forgive me for it, and that’s okay, but please, I need you. Diggle and I as well as this whole damn city needs you Felicity. Please come back to work with us, if not for me or Diggle for all of the people that could benefit from you helping us. If you don’t ever talk to me again, I accept it, and I’m sorry I came into your life and ruined it. But if you decide otherwise, the foundry’s always open to you.” 

As soon as he finished his plea, Oliver exited the cubicle, and Felicity’s heart burned more and more with every step he took away from her. Diggle left with a quick squeeze of her shoulder, and she could tell that he’d missed her as much as Oliver had, just in a different way. It hurt her so much to see the two guys she’d come to feel like family be hurt by her. Felicity needed a drink. 

* * *

A week after his speech in Felicity’s office, Oliver resigned himself to never seeing of speaking to Felicity again, which broke his heart. He was just getting ready to exercise until he passed out when he heard her voice from behind him, and at first he thought he was hallucinating. 

“Oliver?” Felicity asked. 

He whipped around, hoping and praying that he had not finally gone crazy and was seeing things. He was woken from his trance by one of Felicity’s under her breath monologues. 

“-shirtless. Is this how he always looks? He has fracking drool-worthy abs. Yummy.” 

He couldn’t help the smile that came to his face at her words because he knew he wasn’t imagining his perfect soulmate biting her bottom lip, her eyes scanning him from head to toe and looking like she wanted to eat him. He cleared his throat, and her eyes snapped up to his; at his raised eyebrow, she flushed an embarrassed scarlet that continued below her shirt collar. 

“Right,” Felicity mumbled. She took a few breaths as if to steady herself. After a beat, She plucked up her courage and stated, “I’m in, Oliver.” 

Oliver felt dumbfounded. 

“What?” he asked.

Felicity responded, “You heard me: I’m in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How was it? I hope I'm not too rusty after taking such a big break. I'll try to have the next update out soon-ish, but I don't know when that will be exactly. Until then, bye!
> 
> P.S. Can we talk about that season 7 trailer for a minute? *Squeals*


	8. Return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Happy New Year! I'm so sorry that it has taken me this long to update, but school has been kicking my ass, and I have had no time or motivation to write the past few months. I don't own Arrow or have a beta. Enjoy!

Oliver could not believe his luck. No matter how much he had managed to inadvertently push Felicity away, she always returned back to him. It was like nature pulling them together in a way Oliver did not believe he deserved. 

Felicity was looking at him with her eyebrows crinkled together when he realized that it had been several moments since she had spoken and he had not replied.

He immediately stalked forward and pulled her into a hug, whispering a thanks into her ear. He could have held her forever if he did not feel her tensing up at the contact. Reluctantly, he released her and pulled away to reveal an embarrassed Felicity, blushing at hugging a shirtless Oliver. 

“Sorry,” Oliver quickly apologized, hoping that his behavior had not pushed her away for good. 

To his relief, Felicity just walked past him to the endless boxes of computer supplies that she’d ordered, and that both Oliver and Digg had no clue what to do with. Despite the late hour they both stayed up putting together all of the equipment she’d ordered. 

Oliver couldn’t help but be mesmerized by Felicity as she put together the computers; she would poke her tongue just slightly out of her mouth whenever she concentrated enough, and when she was deciding what to do next, she would draw her eyebrows in. 

Oliver would have been content to watch her work forever, but as the hours turned later, he could tell Felicity was tired. She could barely keep her eyes open as she finished the last of her computer equipment. 

To Oliver’s surprise, she suggested he drive her home, and he spent the entire drive glancing over at her in her passenger seat, wondering how he had gotten so lucky as to have a soulmate like Felicity. 

She was completely asleep when he pulled into her driveway, and he could not bring himself to wake her, so he cradled her into his arms as he made his way inside her house. She snuggled into the warmth of his body as he carried her which brought a smile to Oliver’s face. He could not think of anything more perfect than that moment. 

As he placed her under her comforter, she clung onto him, and an unhappy sound left her mouth, so Oliver had to pry her fingers from his shirt. He couldn’t help but bend down and kiss her forehead which surprisingly calmed her down. It took all of Oliver’s self control to not curl up beside her and sleep, because he knew that with her, all of the nightmares would go away. 

He reluctantly left her house and returned to the foundry. At least it was a start. 

* * *

Felicity woke up feeling more refreshed than she had in weeks when it all hit her.

Last night. 

She had been feeling guilty at what Oliver had said. The people of Starling City needed her to help protect them. She had been selfish keeping their protector distracted from his duty. 

She just had to do something. 

Without giving herself time to think, she hopped into her car and drove to the foundry, way too fast despite the late hour. She knew that if she slowed down, her better judgement would kick in and she would turn herself around and go home. 

She pulled into the parking lot and only found Oliver’s motorcycle. Good, she could discuss her place on the team with him alone. She keyed in the code that she had seen Oliver use for the lock, and made her way down the stairs. 

The sight that greeted her would stay with her for years to come. Oliver had his back towards her, and what a back it was. Thick with muscles and dripping with a sheen of sweat, Oliver’s back was probably one of the most drool-worthy things she had ever seen. 

Down, girl, she thought to herself.

“Oliver,” she called, hoping to get her act together. 

He turned around, eyes wide in surprise and shock at her presence in the foundry, and God help her if the front wasn’t even better than the back. She could not believe that this was how he looked shirtless. 

Is this how he always looks? Felicity thought to herself. He has fracking drool-worthy abs. Yummy. 

At Oliver’s almost audible smirk, she realized that she had broadcasted her thoughts, and her embarrassment flushed over her face. Trying to keep herself from drooling, panting, dropping to her knees to worship his abs, or any combination of the three, Felicity cut right to the chase. 

“Right,” She steadied herself with a few breaths. “I’m in, Oliver.” 

With this, Oliver looked completely confused, and asked her “What?” 

“You heard me: I’m in.”

* * *

Hours later, after Felicity had put together all of her babies, she was beginning to wane. She didn’t remember falling asleep, but the next thing she knows, she is being lifted into surprisingly sturdy arms, and a rhythmic swaying puts her right back to sleep. 

She does not know what came over her, but she burrowed herself even closer into the unidentifiable comforting warmth that was carrying her. When it attempted to put her down, she made her discontent known as she tried to keep a hold of it. However, when she felt a kiss pressed to her forehead, she calmed herself. 

It wasn’t until awake Felicity had ran this all over in her head before she had realized that the warmth she had tried to hold onto was Oliver. 

Oh frack! It felt like she would never stop blushing when it came to Oliver Queen. 

* * *

Over the next few weeks, Felicity found herself in a routine. She would wake up extra early so she could get to Queen Consolidated and finish her work early. From there, she would go straight to the foundry, assisting Oliver and Digg in locating their most recent targets and helping them find new ones. 

For the first few days after her return. Diggle became uber protective of her, not letting Oliver near her unless absolutely necessary and reassuring her that she could leave at any time; it wasn’t until Felicity had pulled Digg aside and told him that the foundry was where she wanted to be that he glared less at Oliver for thinking he’d forced her into danger yet again. 

The three of them would order dinner which would most often be Big Belly Burger, a favorite of Felicity’s from college, and her boys would fight crime while she directed them. Oliver would always drive her home, and most days he would have to carry her to her bed. 

* * *

They were so wrapped up in each other that they didn’t see that every night, Slade Wilson would watch them, watch Oliver’s soulmate still care for him, trust him, after every terrible thing he had done. 

“Time for plan B,” Slade announced to himself with a sneer. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you guys think? My new years' resolution is to update this story as quickly as possible, so let's hope it sticks. I'll try to post the next chapter soon. Thanks for sticking around!


	9. Unexpected

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! I'm back, and it hasn't taken me like six months to update, so woohoo! Today marks the one year anniversary of this fic (which is also my first fanfiction ever!), and I am so grateful for all the support it has gotten this past year. Serious digital hugs coming at you guys right now! As my gift to you guys in exchange for all the love, an update that didn't take me forever to post;) You guys know the drill by now; I don't own Arrow or have a beta. All mistakes are my own. Enjoy!

Over the next few weeks, in addition to targeting the one percenters and other swindlers, Felicity set her sights on finally catching Slade, at the urging of Diggle who acted like a really overprotective brother and Oliver who acted overprotective but in an  _ entirely _ different way. 

It was several weeks into their search that it amounted to anything useful. 

“I’ve got a hit on Slade with the facial rec software, Oliver!” Felicity announced from her desk which was covered with her long cold dinner from earlier in the night: Chinese takeout. Oliver and Diggle immediately stopped sparring and rushed over to her computer setup. 

Felicity had to fight the groan that threatened to leave her mouth as Oliver leaned his muscly, slightly sweaty body close to hers to see what she had found. Over the past months he had been getting more comfortable with his contact with her, and everytime he came too close she felt her breath catch in her throat. He must have caught it too with how often she saw him smirking after the fact. 

Diggle, obviously exasperated with the cat-and-mouse game the two idiots didn’t even know they were playing, rolled his eyes and cleared his throat to break up the tension quickly building between them. 

“What did you find, Felicity?” he asked.

“Oh, um, right,” Felicity started, trying to be nonchalant, “He was spotted on the roof of the building located at the corner of Green Street and Park Avenue. I don’t know why we can locate him now after such a long time of him remaining hidden, so it’s probably a trap. Be careful you guys.” 

Felicity looked over her shoulder at her boys suiting up. 

“We’ll be fine Felicity; he just has to pay for taking  _ my _ Felici-” Oliver stopped before he could finish and looked up into Felicity’s eyes, embarrassed. It was one of the only times that she had ever seen him blush. 

He continued awkwardly, “I mean you Felicity. He has to pay for taking you, Felicity.” 

“Nice save, man.” Diggle completed his sarcastic comment with a thumbs up, and it took Felicity turning away from the scene to stop the giddy giggles about to burst from her mouth. 

Over the last few weeks, despite the walls she formed to keep out the constant companionship and affection from him, Felicity had begun to fall hard and fast for Oliver Queen. It was a combination of the little things, like how he knew what coffee to bring her from her favorite coffee shop before a long night of vigilanteing, or when they watched an episode of  _ Doctor Who _ one night after he took her home, and he spent the next week binging as much as he could to impress her. She was starting to fall for Oliver Queen, though she was probably never going to work up the nerves to tell him. 

She reflected on these thoughts as she placed her comm link into her ear and suited up in her own way. There was no way she was going to let Oliver or Diggle be hurt by Slade Wilson, especially after all he had taken from her already; he could not take her two best friends, too. 

She hacked into the city cameras nearest to where Diggle and Oliver were headed. She attempted to search the nearby area to give the guys a heads up on any potential allies of Slade waiting to ambush them. But as much as she searched the area, Felicity could not find a single person other than Diggle and Oliver. She took another look at the supposed live feed of Slade on the roof, only to come across something that made her blood run cold. 

In all of the excitement that came along with getting a hit on Slade, she had failed to check one thing: the integrity of the video itself. Upon a quick inspection, the video had been looped to some few minute long clip taken over an hour ago. Felicity immediately called out to Oliver. 

“Oliver, the video was looped. Slade isn’t there. Get back here now!” she said using her loud voice. 

“Ah, Miss Smoak,” Felicity heard from behind her, and she whipped around to face him. She came face to face with the voice that she had dreaded hearing since that last time she heard it, complete with its signature thick Australian accent. 

“I expected more from you,” Slade continued from the top of the staircase. “It took you so long to realize your mistake. What a pity.” 

Before Felicity could call for help, she saw Slade click a button on a device in his hands, and all at once the Foundry collapsed all around her, on top of her. She was knocked to the ground from the impact of the explosion, and her ears were ringing like a telephone. 

Felicity looked over at the stairs where Slade once stood, only to find them caved in and the door to the foundry blocked by what looked like a ton of concrete. She started to get up from the floor, only to feel a sharp, metallic tug at her abdomen. With as much attention as she could muster from her scattered mind, she inspected the area only to come to the conclusion that a three hundred pound chunk of ceiling overrun with wires and pipes was probably not her best possibility for landing on her in an explosion. 

Now aware of the massive amounts of pain that she was in, she tried to free herself from the damned thing, but she was unable to move, and she tried to think of a plan despite her grogginess. 

Her brain started to scatter further, and she began to slump, unable to keep herself up any longer due to the pain. Even in her scattered mind, she could identify the symptoms of severe blood loss; she could also reach the conclusion that she’s dying. 

“-licity” she heads from her static-laden comm link. “Felicity, please tell me you’re okay! Please, Felicity!” 

Felicity sifted through her slow, groggy mind for who this voice might be. Oliver. She remembered she had to tell Oliver something. Oh, right. 

“I love you, Oliver.” 

“Felicity! Are you okay?” After a pause, she heard him again “What did you say, Felicity?” 

“I’m in love with you, Oliver Queen,” Felicity said, trying to get all of her feelings out before she could not speak anymore due to the inhaled dust and debris clouding her mind, or before she bled out. 

She began to cry because she knew she would never see the dumbfounded look on Oliver’s face right then. She would never see him smile, laugh, smirk at her again. 

“I needed you to know, Oliver, before it’s too late.” As if on cue, she began hacking and coughing so hard she felt like a lung was going to pop out at any second. 

“Felicity, I love you too, please stay with me.” She heard his frantic pleads on the line, and she knew his efforts were futile as her vision faded in and out. 

“Please remember I love you, Oliver.” Felicity felt the tiredness taking over her all too quickly, and tears began streaming down her face at a faster pace.

“Goodbye, Oliver.” She closed her eyes and heard his pleas, his begging, and his growly demands that he stay with her fade out of her hearing. And then, nothing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thank you so much for all the support. I hope you guys will not try to kill me after this chapter, lol! We only have two more updates to go for this fic, and the next one will likely be LONG so buckle up kids and get ready to enjoy the ride!


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